Notre Dame opens weekend with doubleheader at noon on Saturday
Returning staff ace who fashioned a breakthrough
season in 2007, when he became the
second Notre Dame pitcher ever to post 100-
plus strikeouts (102) and register an ERA
under 2.00 (1.88) in the same season (current
big-leaguer Aaron Heilman is the other)
... named to the 2008 preseason watch list
for the Brooks Wallace national Player of the
Year award ... also picked to repeat as a first
team all-BIG EAST performer in '08 ...
entered his sophomore season with budding
confidence, after a strong 2006 fall season
that saw him make steady progress while
working with Irish pitching coach Sherard
Clinkscales ... his key strides from his freshman
to sophomore season included consistently
finishing off batters with his low-90s
fastball and a breaking ball and change-up
that both were fine tuned for efficiency ...
bring a bulldog mentality to the mound in
every appearance ... one of the hardest
throwers on the team who can spot his
explosive fastball with movement on
both sides of the plate ... could emerge
as an Academic All-America candidate,
due to his 3.24 cumulative grade-point
average that includes an impressive 3.50
in-season GPA during the 2006 spring
semester ... was slated to pitch alongside
three classmates and fellow pitchers
(Kyle Weiland, Sam Elam and Brett
Graffy) during the summer of 2007, with
the Cape Cod League's Falmouth
Commodores ... ultimately opted to rest
his arm during the summer of '07, after
making a pair of starts with Falmouth
(7.27, 8.2 IP, 21 H, 5 BB, 5 Ks) ... played
for the Alaska League's Mat-Su Miners in
the summer of '06, going 3-2 in seven
starts, with a 3.02 ERA and 36 strikeouts
in 47.2 innings (23 walks, 32 hits
allowed/1 home run, 3 hit batters, 2 wild
pitches, a pair of complete games, a
shutout and a save) ... has drawn game-
1 starts in each of the past three Blue-
Gold Series (fall intrasquad), with
no-decisions in the first two games and
a loss in '07 (his career BGS stats include
a 4.85 ERA, 13.0 IP, 12 R/8 ER, 13 H, 7 BB, 9 Ks)
... lost game-1 in '07 BGS, for Gold team that
went on to win series (4.2 IP, 5 R/2 ER, 5 H, 2
BB, HB, 2 Ks; 1-8) ...had strong outing in '06
with Blue (5 IP, R, 3 H, BB, HB, 5 Ks) but Gold
won that 2-1 pitchers duel and went on to
win the series ... also started BGS opener in
'05 (3.1 IP, 6 R/5 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 2 Ks, HB, WP),
with his Blue teammates rallying for 7-6 win
and later taking the series ... his older
brother Mike Phelps pitches in the Chicago
Cubs organization ... joins former 1B/LHP
Joe Thaman ('04; St. Louis) as recent
Missouri natives to monogram with a Notre
Dame baseball program that includes 14 alltime
monogram winners from the show-me
state ... could face his former teammate Joe
Ercalano when the Irish play Lehigh in '08
season.
AS A SOPHOMORE: Bounced back
from rocky freshman season by turning in
one of the best seasons ever by a Notre
Dame pitcher in 2007 ... named first team all-
BIG EAST Conference while becoming the
second Notre Dame pitcher ever to post 100-
plus strikeouts (102) and an ERA under 2.00
during the same season (1.88) ... also earned
CoSIDA Academic All-District honors and
advanced to the Academic All-America ballot,
after carrying a 3.36 cumulative GPA into
the 2007 season ... joined former All-
Americans Aaron Heilman (in '99) and Chris
Niesel (in '03) as youngest Notre Dame pitchers
ever named to BIG EAST's top team (each
earned the honor as sophomores) ...
Heilman is the only other Notre Dame
pitcher ever to reach 100 Ks while also having
a sub-2.00 ERA in the same season (111
Ks, 1.74 ERA; as a senior in 2001) ... entered
the final month of the '07 season up for
pitcher-of-the-year honors, with Louisville
junior Zack Pitts ultimately taking home that
award ... finished '07 season as league leader
in overall ERA (1.87; 14th in the nation) and
strikeouts (102; sixth in ND history) while
ranking third among BIG EAST pitchers with
110.1 innings, seventh in lowest opp. batting
average (.236) and eighth in wins (8-5) ...
was one of only six pitchers in the nation
who entered '07 postseason with an ERA
under 2.00, eight or more wins and 90-plus
strikeouts ... in '07 regular-season BIG EAST
games, he finished second in ERA (2.14, trailing
only Seton Hall's Keith Cantwell) plus
first in strikeouts (67) and innings (71.1), second
in Ks looking (26) and pickoffs (4), third
in wins (5-3) and 10th in lowest opp. batting
(.242) ... pitched well enough to win at least
13 of his 15 starts ... posted the 11th-best
season ERA in the Notre Dame record book
and eighth-best of the aluminum-bat era
(since early-'80s) ... led '07 staff in ERA, wins,
strikeouts, innings, starts (15; sixth in BIG
EAST), Ks looking (42) and groundouts
(119), also ranking third on staff in lowest
opp. batting avg. ... had 15 more innings
pitched than hits allowed (96, six of them
HRs) ... finished with staff's second-best Kto-
walk ratio (3.4; 102/30) ... his nine-inning
averages included a team-best 7.1 innings
per start, 8.3 Ks (second on the team) and
2.5 walks (third-lowest on staff), plus 7.8 hits
... became the fifth different Notre Dame
pitcher ever to reach 100 strikeouts in a season
... posted double-digit strikeouts three
times during '07 regular season and added 9-
K game in the BIG EAST Tournament versus
Villanova ... totaled five complete games
while becoming third Notre Dame pitcher
ever to post four or more (4) nine-inning
complete games in a season (Heilman had
five and Danny Tamayo four, both in 2001) ...
allowed 0-2 earned runs in 13 of his 16 starts
... unearned runs led to Irish losses in three
of his starts (vs. Texas State, Pitt and
Villanova) ... 12 of the runs charged to him
were unearned and the Irish offense averaged
only 5.4 runs/gm in his 16 starts ... the
only Notre Dame pitchers to total more Ks in
a season are Heilman (118 in '99 and '00; 111
in '01), Jeff Manship (111 in '06) and Tamayo
(106 in '01) ... held '07 opposing batters to
.212 batting with runners on base (secondbest
on the staff) and was third on staff in
opp. batting by lefthanded hitters (.243), RH
hitters (.232) and in opp. leadoff on-base pct.
(.336; 3 per 9 IP) ... proved to be very strong
at the start of games, compiling a 1.50 ERA
while allowing only a .236 opp. batting avg. in
the 1st-4th innings (51 Ks/12 BB, 53 H in 60
IP) ... feasted on first look at opponent's bottom
of the order, as he allowed only two
earned runs in the 2nd inning all season ...
had no-decision in opening week versus
Texas State (5 IP, R, 6 H/solo HR, 2 BB, then
career-high 7 Ks; 1-2 loss) ... followed with
pair of prime-time wins over #12 TCU (6 IP,
UER, 5 H, BB, 5 Ks, 24 BF, 57 of 88 pitches for
strikes; 4-1, in Myrtle Beach, S.C.) and #7
Nebraska (5 IP, 5 R/1 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, HB, 3 Ks,
108 pitches; 16-6, at Stetson) ... lost 3-0 pitchers'
duel with Sacred Heart's Jay Monti (the
national ERA leader), in Clearwater, Fla. (7 IP,
3 R/1 ER, 6 H, BB, 6 Ks) ... added springbreak
win over N.Y. Tech (7 IP, R, 5 H, 2 BB, 5
Ks; 12-1, at Florida Gulf Coast) ... won classic
1-0 showdown with South Florida ace Danny
Otero (9 IP, 3 H, BB, HB, 10 Ks, 78 of 115
pitches for strikes) ... became first ND
pitcher since J.P. Gagne in 2001 (vs. BYU) to
toss a 9-inning solo shutout ... also was 10th
different ND pitcher since '95 to post solo 9-
inning shutout (only two others on that list
had double-digit Ks) ... the thriller with USF
marked only the seventh time in 15 seasons
(and 900 games) that the Irish had played in
a 1-0 game ... joined Gagne as the only ND
pitchers (since '91, and possibly earlier) to
post a solo 9-inning shutout in a 1-0 game ...
hard-luck loser at Pittsburgh (6.2 IP, 4 R, 8 H,
2 BB, 3 Ks; 2-4) and Cincinnati (8 IP, 4 R/1 ER,
7 H, 2 BB, WP, 7 Ks; 3-4) before rattling off
wins over Georgetown (7 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, HB, 8
Ks; 10-0), West Virginia (9 IP, 2 R, 7 H, 3 BB, 6
Ks; 5-20, at league-leading Rutgers (7 IP, 3 R,
7 H, HB, WP, 7 Ks; 15-3) and back home
against Seton Hall (9 IP, R, 5 H, 11 Ks; 3-1) ...
lost much-anticipated showdown with Pitts
at Louisville (7.2 IP, 3 R, 8 H, 3 BB, HB, 11 Ks;
1-3) and had no-decision versus UConn in
final regular-season series (8 IP, 4 R/3 ER, 12
H, 4 BB, 2 HB, 4 Ks; 5-4) ... finished strong in
BIG EAST Tournament loss to Villanova (9 IP,
3 R/2 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 9 Ks, 78 of 123 pitches for
strikes; 1-3).
AS A FRESHMAN: Served primarily as a
reliever while logging three starts among his
12 appearances ... his 26.2 innings tied for
second-most among the four rookie pitchers,
behind Freshman All-American Kyle
Weiland's 49.1 ... won both of his decisions
while posting a 7.09 ERA, better than a 2-to-1
strikeout-to-walk ratio (23/10) and a .280
opponent batting average (30 hits, none of
them home runs) ... had a solid midseason
stretch with a 1.15 ERA in span of six outings
(15.2 IP) but his season also included inconsistency
with his control and focus (5 hit batters,
2 wild pitches, 2 balks) ... owned
third-best groundout-to-flyout ratio on the
staff (1.5), also ranking fourth on staff in
groundout rate (11.1 per 9 IP) and fifth with
7.8 Ks per 9 IP (18.9 of his outs per 9 IP came
via Ks or GOs) ... held righthanded hitters to
.237 batting avg. (4th on staff) ... allowed 3-
of-4 inherited baserunners to score but limited
the first batters faced in his outings to
2-for-8 batting (BB, R, 4 Ks) ... his bad luck
debut included three unearned runs charged
to him in 10-inning loss to Memphis, in
Millington, Tenn. (2 IP, 4 R, 4 H, HB, 3 Ks; 6-7)
... allowed only one run in 2-inning stint the
next week versus potent Nebraska team, at
the Metrodome (H, BB, HB, 2 Ks) ... pitcher
of record in comeback win over #15 Texas
A&M (5-4, in San Antonio), despite allowing
two-run single by first batter he faced (he
then rolled up a groundout to end the 7th
and the Irish pushed across four in the 8th)
... had his first start later on spring-break
trip, in 10-8 loss to Iowa (2.1 IP, 4 R, 4 H, BB,
HB, 2 Ks, WP, HB) ... recovered from rough
start in his home debut (vs. Central
Michigan; 3.2 IP, 7 R, 7 H, BB, HB, K, 2 BK; 11-
9) by allowing only two runs over his next six
outings and 15.2 innings (8 H, 6 BB, 14 Ks) ...
tossed two shutout innings in 12-0 win over
Valparaiso (BB, 3 Ks, WP) and then had
shutout frame in 10-4 win at South Florida (3
BB, K) ... won his final start in 8-2 game with
Manchester, (season-high 7 Ks, 7 IP, 4 H, BB,
HB) ... allowed pair of runs in 11-8 loss to
Bowling Green that ended team's record-setting
23-game winning streak (3.2 IP, 4 H, BB,
K) ... added shutout innings to help beat
Cleveland State (K; 12-1) and Louisville (K;
11-3) ... made final appearance in 14-12 win
at Seton Hall (0.2 IP, 6 R, 5 H, BB, K).
PREP & PERSONAL: Three-year regular
at Hazelwood West High School, compiling
2.96 career ERA, 14-4 record and 172 Ks in
109.2 innings (27 GP/17 GS, 9 CG, 6 SV 46 BB)
... his 9-inning career averages included 14.1
Ks and 3.8 walks (3.7 K-to-BB ratio) ... was
listed by Baseball America as top prospect in
Missouri among '05 prep seniors (#76 in
nation) while Team One slotted him as
nation's #84 prospect (31st among RHPs) ...
named all-state as senior team MVP (1.56, 6-
2, 3 SV, 88 K, 19 BB, 54 IP, 5 CG, 11 GP/8 GS)
... set school record with 30-inning scoreless
streak in '05 ... team captain, all-conference
and all-metro performer in '04 and '05
... his '04 stats included 2.65 ERA and 59 Ks
in 34.1 IP (4-2, 2 SV, 13 BB, 9 GP/5 GS, 3 CG)
... all-conference pitcher and outfielder in '03
(conference champs) and '04 ... logged 3.61
ERA and 25 Ks as sophomore in '03 (4-0,
save, 14 BB, 21.1 IP, 7 GP/4 GS, CG) ... tossed
1-hitter in '04 vs. St. Charles and in '04 summer
with Midwest Prospects, totaling 16 Ks
versus Colorado-based Play Ball Sports team
(at Omaha tournament) ... earned all-state
honors with SLABA team in 8th and 10th
grade, also playing in Perfect Game showcases
as junior and senior ... invited to Area
Code Games as a junior, in California with
Chicago White Sox team ... his brother Mike
Phelps was a pitcher at Central Missouri and
a 2005 draft pick of the Chicago Cubs ... lettered
twice in basketball at HWHS ... an
honor-roll student and member of National
Honor Society ... born Oct. 9, 1986, in St.
Louis ... full name is David Edward Phelps ...
son of Alan and Sandy Phelps ... enrolled in
the College of Arts and Letters, majoring in
political science and computer applications.
