Baseball lost to Michigan 5 to 3 on May 4th in the 10th inning of the game.
Mik Aoki (pronounced A-O-key), the only head baseball coach to lead Boston College to an NCAA Regional since 1967, heads into his second year in 2012 as the 20th head baseball coach at the University of Notre Dame.
Aoki guided the Irish to a 23-29-1 record and 13-13 mark in the BIG EAST in 2011 - leading Notre Dame back to the conference tournament (an accomplishment unreached in 2010). The Irish finished just one half game out of fourth in the league regular season standings.
Notre Dame competed against a challenging schedule last year with an inexperienced and injury-depleted squad. The Irish played without a trio of key left-handed pitchers, including 2010 No. 2 starter Steve Sabatino. The Irish had lost four of their top five hitters, over 50 percent of their run production and nearly 70 percent of their home run output from `10 (all to graduation). Notre Dame also broke out six first-year everyday players, including a pair of freshman in the middle of the Irish batting order. Despite those obvious challenges and 14 games against schools that ultimately reached the NCAA regionals, including five against NCAA super regional qualifier Connecticut, the Irish went toe-to-toe with the demanding slate. Notre Dame managed only five victories against tournament-bound clubs, but two of the losses came by a single run and two more by two runs. In fact, the Irish held a 2-1 lead over the BIG EAST regular season champion Huskies in the bottom of the eighth inning in the opening round of the conference tournament, but Notre Dame was unable to hold off Connecticut as the Huskies plated three runs in the bottom of
the eighth inning to secure a 4-2 triumph.
Notre Dame set a school record for one-run contests in 2011 (20) and finished just a game shy of the school record for one-run victories (10). The Irish also played three other extra-inning contests where Notre Dame either tied (Gonzaga, March 20) or lost by two runs (West Virginia, April 15; Michigan, May 4). The Irish had two BIG EAST series in which all three games were decided by one run (vs. Georgetown and vs. Seton Hall). Notre Dame's victory over West Virginia on May 26 was the first BIG EAST tournament game decided by a 1-0 score since 2000 and only the third in tournament history. The Irish played in nine more games decided by two runs and nine more decided by three runs. In all, 38 of Notre Dame's 53 games were decided by three runs or less
The Irish were carried all season by one of the top pitching staffs in the BIG EAST. Notre Dame finished 2011 with a 3.42 ERA (down from 5.95 in 2010), which was the best by an Irish staff since 2004 (3.36). Notre Dame actually took a 2.82 ERA into the final week of the regular season, which would have been the lowest by an Irish club since 1960 (2.60, school record) and ranked 15th in the NCAA at the time.
Notre Dame's starting pitchers registered a quality start (pitcher completes at least six innings and permits no more than three earned runs) in 33 of 53 games for the Irish. The 33 quality starts is even more impressive when you consider Notre Dame totaled 11 in 2010. The Irish owned a 2.57 strikeout-to-walk ratio, which was light years better than the total of 1.73 from `10. Notre Dame led the BIG EAST in fewest walks by a large margin. The Irish walked only 143 batters in 481.2 innings, good for a 2.67 average per nine innings - slightly off the school record for fewest walks per nine innings (2.48 in 2001), but still ranked third all-time.
The effort was even more impressive when you consider Notre Dame averaged 3.65 walks per nine innings in 2010 and 3.82 per nine innings in 2009.
The Irish pitching staff ranked first or second in the conference in sacrifice bunts allowed, walks allowed, hit batters allowed, runs allowed, earned runs allowed, wild pitches allowed and balks allowed.
Aoki has coached three Major League Baseball draft picks since arriving at Notre Dame in 2011. Two of those draft picks were pitchers, including Brian Dupra - a seventh-round selection of the Washington Nationals in 2011.
Aoki arrived in South Bend after a four-year stint as the Eagle head coach in Chestnut Hill, Mass. He brought the Boston College baseball program into the national forefront after leading the Eagles to the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament in 2009 and 2010 (the only two ACC Tournament appearances in school history) and their first NCAA Regional appearance in 42 years (2009).
In 2009, the Eagles' nearly knocked off number-one national seed Texas in an NCAA-record 25-inning game that would have propelled them to the finals of the `09 Austin Regional and given Boston College a great chance at reaching its first Super Regional in program history.
Aoki's `09 squad qualified for its first ACC Tournament and made a statement there as well. Entering the tournament needing at least one win to likely ensure a spot in an NCAA regional, the Eagles lost their first game to seventh-ranked Florida State. Boston College responded emphatically, beating 13th-rated Georgia Tech and 16th-ranked Miami in the next two games by a combined score of 17-4 to earn its bid to Austin.
The Eagles' 34-26 overall record qualified as their best since 2005 and their 13-15 record in ACC play marked the most league wins since joining the conference in 2006 (Boston College eclipsed that total in 2010 with 14). The New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association tabbed Boston College as its team of the year for its performance.
Despite the loss of two top-50 overall draft picks following the `09 campaign, Boston College finished 30-28 overall, 14-16 in the ACC, and qualified for 2010 ACC Tournament. The Eagles took two of three to open the season at perennial power Tulane and recorded five victories over foes ranked in the top 10, including Miami (twice), Clemson, Florida State and Georgia Tech.
Aoki coached 28 Major League Baseball draft picks and four free agent signees during his tenure at Boston College in 2004. Three of those draft picks were first-round selections in Mike Belfiore, Chris Lambert and Tony Sanchez. In addition, 16 of those 28 picks have been pitchers and two (Lambert, Joe Martinez) have reached the Major League level.
In the 2010 first-year MLB player draft, Boston College had six players selected, most in program history. In fact, three Eagles were taken in the first 10 rounds of the draft - another program first.
Boston College also had a major presence in the `09 draft, as Sanchez was selected fourth overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates, the highest pick ever for the Eagles' baseball program. Belfiore was then taken in Comp Round A (45th overall) by the Arizona Diamondbacks, making the pair the two highest draft picks taken in the same draft from Boston College.
Aoki mentored six all-ACC performers in his four seasons as head coach, including the program's only two first-team nominees in Sanchez (2009) and Mickey Wiswall (2010). Four Eagles earned all-conference honors in 2009, the most since joining the ACC. Aoki's teams also produced eight all-New England selections, five all-ACC Academic Team members and two All-Americans (Belfiore and Sanchez).
Prior to being named Boston College head coach, Aoki, a Plymouth, Mass. native, spent three seasons (2004-06) as pitching coach for the Eagles. In 2004, he oversaw a staff that had five pitchers sign professional contracts at season's end.
Prior to his arrival in Chestnut Hill, Aoki spent five years (1999-2003) as the Columbia head coach, leading the Lions to an 87-140 mark during that span. His teams won 20 or more games in each of his last three seasons. Before the Aoki era, the Lions had not posted a 20-win season since 1987.
Before assuming his duties at Columbia, Aoki spent four years (1995-98) as assistant coach at Dartmouth. In that position, he focused his efforts on the team's infielders and hitters, while also serving as the program's recruiting coordinator.
He began his coaching career in 1992 as head coach at Manchester (Conn.) Community College, then served two seasons (1993-94) as an assistant coach at Ohio University.
Born Oct. 7, 1968, in Yokohama, Japan, and raised in Plymouth, Mass., Aoki attended Milton Academy in Milton, Mass. He earned four letters and started for three years in baseball at Davidson (1987-90), as a second baseman, third baseman and catcher. He still ranks among the school's career leaders in slugging percentage (.547, eighth) and batting average (.335, ninth). In his senior season (1990), he finished with a team-leading .365 batting average. He stroked 20 doubles in his final season, second most in a single year in Davidson history. He also cracked 13 home runs in 1988, fifth-best total in a single season at Davidson. Two of those homers were grand slams - and only six other players in Davidson history have hit two grand slams in a season.
Aoki owns an undergraduate degree from Davidson in English (1990) and a master's degree from Ohio University in physical education in athletic administration (1994).
Aoki played one summer of professional baseball in the Netherlands - for the HCAW Tigers of the Dutch Major League -- following his graduation.
Mik and wife, Sue, have three children - son, Kai (6), and daughters Bryn (3) and Reese (2).
