Postgame Notes
May 31, 2002
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NOTRE DAME
Notre Dame earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship by winning
the BIG EAST Tournament Championship for the first time in school history
after gaining a share of the regular-season title. The Irish have
qualified for the NCAA tournament in each of the past four years and this
is their 17th all-time appearance. Notre Dame reached the College World
Series once, finishing third in 1957. Notre Dame is the No. 2 seed in the
South Bend Regional and is ranked 16th in the Baseball America and USA
Today/ESPN Coaches polls, while the Irish are listed 17th in the Collegiate
Baseball poll.
Notre Dame is 45-15 this season and has won 36 of its last 41 games.
This is the third season in a row and the ninth time overall the Irish have
won 45 or more games in a season, with all of those occurring since 1989.
The Irish are 30-33 all-time in the NCAA tournament.
This marks the fifth time Notre Dame has played host to NCAA Championship
action and the third time in the last four years that Frank Eck Stadium has
filled the role. The Irish are 7-8 in home NCAA games, including 5-4 at
Eck Stadium, and have never won their own regional. Last season, Notre
Dame was the top seed in the South Bend Regional and lost 5-4 to Florida
International in the championship game. The Irish finished third in the
1999 South Bend Regional.
Notre Dame is 9-8 in opening games in NCAA tournament play, but the Irish
have won each of their last five openers. The last time Notre Dame dropped
its first NCAA game was a 9-5 loss to Old Dominion in the 1994 East
Regional at Clemson.
Notre Dame leads the all-time series with Ohio State 25-18, but the
Buckeyes had taken the only three prior meetings in the last 26 years.
Ohio State defeated the Irish 5-4 in the 2000 Service Academies Classic in
Millington, Tenn. and took a pair of contests from Notre Dame in the 1991
Oakland A's Tournament in Phoenix, Ariz. The last Irish win over the
Buckeyes came in the 1976 Joe Sewell Classic in Tuscaloosa, Ala. -- a 4-2
Notre Dame victory one day after Ohio State blanked the Irish 3-0. The
teams first met in 1902 with the Irish registering a 7-0 victory.
Notre Dame is 24-3 (.889) at Frank Eck Stadium this season, which is the
third-highest home winning percentage in a season in school history.
The win was the 21st come-from-behind victory for Notre Dame this season
and it marked the 11th time the Irish have scored the winning run in the
last three innings in 2002.
Notre Dame junior RHP J.P. Gagne gained his career-high eighth victory
(in 12 decisions) of the season and improves to 20-10 in his career. He
improves to 6-2 with four saves and a 2.56 ERA in 15 relief appearances
this season.
Sophomore SS Javier Sanchez extended his hitting streak to 11 games. He
is hitting .444 (16-36) in that span.=20
Senior DH Matt Bok's eighth-inning home run was the second pinch-hit
homer for an Irish player this season (Matt Strickroth vs. Detroit) and the
fifth career home run for Bok.
Junior RF Kris Billmaier is hitting .474 (18-38) with 9 RBI in 11 career
NCAA games.
Junior LF Brian Stavisky is hitting .391 (18-46) with 3 HR, 5 2B, 17 RBI
and 14 R in 11 career NCAA games.
Sophomore 2B Scott Sollman improved to 5-for-7 (.714) with the bases
loaded this season with his RBI single in the seventh inning.
Junior LF Brian Stavisky improved to 3-for-5 (.600) with the bases loaded
this season with his RBI single in the seventh inning.
Junior LF Brian Stavisky's 2-for-5 performance moved his batting average
at Frank Eck Stadium to .432 (32-74) this season.
Sophomore 2B Scott Sollman matched his season high with three hits, a
feat he has accomplished on six occasions.
Junior RF Kris Billmaier matched his season high with three hits, a feat
he has accomplished on five occasions.
Notre Dame's four righthanded batters in the starting lineup, 2B Steve
Sollman, RF Kris Billmaier, DH Ken Meyer and SS Javier Sanchez, combined to
go 8-for-12 (.667) with three runs scored against LHP Josh Newman.
Lefthanded batters for Notre Dame were just 4-for-15 (.267) against Newman.
With the starts by Notre Dame seniors Steve Stanley, Andrew Bushey, Paul
O'Toole, and Ken Meyer, the eight-member class of 2002 has combined to
start exactly 1,000 games. The Irish senior class has posted a four-year
record of 182-64-1 (.739).
This game marked the 1,100th in the head coaching career of Notre Dame's
Paul Mainieri. He owns a 680-418-1 (.619) mark in 20 collegiate seasons.
Mainieri is 348-139-1 (.714) in eight years at Notre Dame.
Kris Billmaier's fourth-inning sacrifice bunt, which led to Notre Dame's
second run of the game marked the 58th for Notre Dame this season, setting
a record for sac. bunts by an Irish team in a season. The 1989 squad laid
down 57 sacrifice bunts.
Senior CF Steve Stanley's five at-bats bring his season total to 260,
which is a new record for an Irish player in a campaign. Dan Peltier's 258
in 1989 were the previous high.
OHIO STATE
Ohio State earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship as the Big
Ten Tournament Champion. This is the 15th appearance in the NCAA
tournament for the Buckeyes and the third in the past four years. Ohio
State has made four appearances in the College World Series (1951, 1965,
1966, 1967), including winning the national title in 1966 and finishing
second in 1965. Ohio State is the No. 3 seed in the South Bend Regional
and is ranked 30th in the Collegiate Baseball poll.
Ohio State is 36-19-1 this season and has won 13 of its last 19 games.
The Buckeyes are 24-23 all-time in the NCAA tournament.
Ohio State is 7-8 in opening games in NCAA tournament play, but the
Buckeyes have lost six of their last eight openers.
Ohio State is on a five-game losing skid in the NCAA tournament, dating
back to 1999. Prior to Friday, the Buckeyes lost to Delaware and Kent
State in the Columbus Regional last season and lost the final two games to
Cal State Fullerton in the 1999 Columbus Super Regional after sweeping
through the Columbus Regional and taking the opening game of the Super
Regional.
Junior LHP Josh Newman's 6.1 innings pitched marked the eighth
consecutive outing he has pitched at least 6.0 innings. Newman has pitched
at least 5.0 innings in each of his 13 starts in 2002.
Junior LHP Josh Newman's performance was very similar to his last outing,
an 11-10 win in the first game of the Big Ten Championship against Indiana.
In that game, Newman pitched 6.1 innings, surrendered 12 hits and seven
runs (six earned), while walking two and striking out two. Against Notre
Dame, Newman pitched 6.1 innings and gave up 12 hits and seven runs, while
walking one and striking out three.
Senior C Joe Wilkins is hitting .500 (11-22) with 4 RBI, 8 R in his last
six games, including a walk-off home run in an 11-10 win over Indiana in
the Big Ten Championship.
