Baseball Takes 9-7 Victory Over Notre Dame

Notre Dame vs Connecticut (May 02, 2008)

STORRS, Conn. (May 2, 2008) — A single in the bottom of the eighth inning by freshman Elliot Glynn (Los Alamitos, Calif.) scored senior Gordon Stevens (Vista, Calif.) as the go ahead run as the University of Connecticut baseball team defeated Notre Dame 9-7 in BIG EAST Conference action on Friday afternoon at J.O. Christian Field.

UConn improves to 23-25 overall this season and 8-14 in the BIG EAST while the Irish drop to 30-13-1 overall and 13-6 in the conference.

UConn got into scoring position in the bottom of the second inning as Mike Olt (Branford, Conn.) recorded a lead-off infield single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Mike Nemeth (Washington, N.J.). Senior Brad Olt (Branford, Conn.) came up to the plate for the Huskies and doubled down the left field line to score UConn’s first run of the game with two outs on the board.

In the bottom of the third inning UConn picked up another run to go ahead 2-0. Pierre LePage (Wolcott, Conn.) singled in the inning with one out and was able to get to third on a sacrifice bunt by Glynn followed by a passed ball. LePage later scored on a two-out single by senior co-captain Pat Mahoney (Des Moines, Iowa). Mahoney’s hit was his 59^th of the season.

Notre Dame was able to get into scoring position with one out in the fourth as A.J. Pollack was hit by a pitch then advanced on a groundout to second base by teammate Evan Sharpley. After a fly out to centerfield by the next batter, Ross Brezovsky lined a singled into centerfield to score Pollack from second. Sean Gaston followed with a double into the gap in left center and was able to get Brezovsky all the way to home from first base to tie the game at two.

With the scored tied at two heading into the bottom of the fourth inning, sophomore Peter Fatse (Hampden, Mass.) was able to connect for an opposite field homerun marking his team’s second-best eighth of the season. Brad Olt followed Fatse with a walk and was moved to third on a double by Stevens. Both Brad Olt and Stevens then scored as sophomore Harold Brantley, Jr. (Silver Spring, Md.) singled through the right side of the infield to record his 13^th and 14^th RBIs of the season. With one out, Brantley got himself into scoring position as he stole his eighth steal of the year in 13 attempts. Notre Dame’s Jeremy Barnes allowed LePage to get on base and advance to second on a throwing error to first. Brantley scored on the play to put the Huskies up 6-2. The Irish’s starting pitcher David Phelps had some trouble in the inning as he allowed four runs and three hits in the fourth.

Notre Dame’s Greg Sherry picked up his second homerun of the season in the top of the fifth inning as he cut the UConn lead to three at 6-3. UConn starting pitcher John Folino (Quincy, Mass.) walked just his second batter of the game as he gave up a free base to Notre Dame’s Brett Lilley with no outs. The Irish loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth as Pollack reached base on a bunt single. Folino fell to a 3-0 count quickly to Sharpley, Notre Dame’s leader in homeruns this season with 10, but was able to come back and strike out Sharpley for the first out of the inning. Folino recorded the second out of the inning with another strikeout as he used an off-speed pitch to strike out Barnes. The Huskies picked up the third out as Nemeth took a hard grounder to first himself to leave the bases loaded for the Irish and end the inning with UConn still ahead 6-3.

The Huskies scored another run in the sixth inning to take a 7-3 lead on Notre Dame’s starter, Phelps. LePage found the gap in left center for a stand up double as he was able to score Brantley from first base after Brantley singled to left field to get on base. Phelps was taken out of the game after one out in the fifth was put on the board. He allowed 11 hits and seven runs, five earned, as he went 5.1 innings before being replaced by Cole Johnson.

Will Musson (Wethersfield, Conn.) came into the game for the Huskies in the seventh inning after Folino went six innings thrown allowing three runs and six hits, after striking out four. Musson stepped on the mound with Lilley at first after being hit by a pitch by Folino to start the inning. With his third pitch thrown, David Mills hit a line drive into the right center gap for his sixth triple of the year as he was able to score Lilley from first base to cut the Huskies’ lead to 7-4. With an infield single by Notre Dame’s Barnes, Mills was able to score the Irish’s fifth run of the game. A walk to Brezovsky by Musson loaded the bases with just one out. Co-captain David Erickson (Stratford, Conn.) came into the game for Musson and walked the first batter he faced.

The Irish tied the game at seven as a fielder’s choice by Gaston scored Pollack from third. Erickson struck out Sherry for the third out of the inning but Notre Dame plated four runs in the top of the seventh to tie the Huskies.

David Mills took the mound in the eighth for Notre Dame with Stevens on first after a bunt single. Stevens moved into scoring position as Brantley recorded a sacrifice bunt for the first out of the inning. Mills intentionally walked LePage to put a force on the infield before facing Glynn. The go ahead run came in the eighth as Glynn recorded his second hit of the game with a single to left field and was able to score Stevens from second to put UConn up 8-7. LePage advanced to third on the hit to place runners at the corners for the Huskies with one out. Pat Mahoney picked up his second RBI of the game with a single off Notre Dame’s Tony Langford to put UConn up 9-7.

Erickson finished out the game for the Huskies, earning the win for his second of the season. He went 2.2 innings while allowing no hits and striking out two batters. Cole Johnson took the loss, falling 2-2 on the year after pitching 1.2 innings.

Five UConn players finished today's game with two hits, including Pat Mahoney and Brantley with two RBIs apiece.

UConn will return to action Saturday as the Huskies host Notre Dame for game two of the three-game BIG EAST series. The first pitch will be thrown at 12:00 p.m. at J.O. Christian Field.

-UCONN-