April 23, 2008
Game Notes
Game 1 GameTracker
Game 1 Live Video
Game 2 GameTracker
Game 2 Live Audio
Game 3 GameTracker
Game 3 Live Video
QUEENS, N.Y. -
After defeating Pittsburgh to win its fifth straight BIG EAST series, the St. John's baseball team heads to Indiana for a BIG EAST series against No. 24 Notre Dame. The Irish enter the series with a one game lead over both St. John's and Cincinnati for first place in the conference. The series opens on Friday, April 25 with a 6:05 p.m. first pitch. The teams continue play on Saturday, April 26 at 3:30 p.m. and conclude the series at 12:05 p.m. on Sunday, April 27. Game two of the series will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
Inside The Series
The teams have met 31 times in a series that began in 1996 and St. John's trails in the all-time series 11-20. The teams have not met since squaring off in a pair of games in the BIG EAST Tournament on May 26, 2006. St. John's defeated Notre Dame by a 10-1 score in the first game of the day, but fell to the Irish, 5-3, in game two. Notre Dame swept the regular season series in 2006, a season after St. John's swept the regular season series in 2005.
Stat Of The Week
108: The Red Storm has 108 extra-base hits this season, including 67 doubles, 14 triples and 27 home runs.
STORMTRACKER
Early Offense
St. John's is 23-2 when scoring first and is also 16-1 when scoring in the first inning.
Over the first three innings of play this season, St. John's has outscored the opposition 96-37.
Hitting To All Fields
The Red Storm is 22-0 when out-hitting the opposition.
St. John's is also 17-0 when scoring at least eight runs in a game.
In The Rankings
With eight wins on the season, George Brown leads the BIG EAST Conference and is also tied for second in the country in victories.
Colin Lynch ranks first in the BIG EAST and second in the country with 12 saves.
Pitcher Matt Tosoni is sixth in the country with a 1.55 ERA.
The St. John's pitching staff ranks 11 th with a 3.47 ERA. The staff also ranks sixth with 7.76 hits per nine innings and 26 th with 8.4 strikeouts per nine innings.
Record Watch
Brown is tied for ninth in school history with eight wins in a single season. The lefty also has 21 career victories, placing him in a tie for tenth place.
Lynch is second all-time with 23 career saves. The reliever joins Craig Hansen as the only two St. John's pitchers to reach the 20 save plateau.
Fresh Faces
Freshman Paul Karmas leads the team with 15 multi-hit games. Karmas is tied with Carlos Del Rosario, another newcomer, for the team lead with eight multi-RBI games.
Eight players have at least 20 RBI, including four newcomers.
Projected Rotation/2008 statistics
LHP Scott Barnes/4-3, 4.73 ERA, 51.1 innings, 53 strikeouts, .218 opp/avg.
LHP George Brown/8-0, 2.47, 58.1 innings, 45 strikeouts, .237 opp/avg.
RHP Jared Yecker/3-0, 3.38 ERA, 32.0 innings, 29 strikeouts, .214 opp/avg.
Scouting The Notre Dame Fighting Irish
The Fighting Irish enter with a 26-10-1 record through April 22. Notre Dame is coming off a 12-2 win over Chicago State in non-conference action.
At 12-3 in BIG EAST play, the Irish sit atop the BIG EAST standings. Notre Dame has swept Georgetown, Rutgers and Villanova, while taking two of three from West Virginia. Cincinnati took two of three from Notre Dame.
AJ Pollock leads the offense with a .397 batting average and is tied for the team lead with 12 doubles and 32 RBI.
The power in the lineup comes from Evan Sharpley and his team best nine home runs. Sharpley also has ten doubles, 30 RBI and leads the team with a .753 slugging percentage.
Eric Maust leads the pitching staff with a 4-1 record and a 2.66 ERA over 10 appearances including six starts.
David Phelps is 5-3 with a 3.38 ERA, while Wade Korpi is 5-2 with a 4.29 ERA.
Kyle Weiland leads the charge out of the bullpen with six saves and a 2.78 ERA in a team-high 19 appearances.
Projected Rotation/2008 statistics
RHP David Phelps/5-3, 3.38 ERA, 61.1 innings, 57 strikeouts, .250 opp/avg.
LHP Wade Korpi/5-2, 4.29 ERA, 50.1 innings, 35 strikeouts, .272 opp/avg.
RHP Eric Maust/4-1, 2.66 ERA, 47.1 innings, 34 strikeouts, .234 opp/avg.
