Notre Dame Baseball beat IPFW 8 to 1 on Wednesday, March 21st.
AT NOTRE DAME: One-time monogram winner that enters his junior season with a 11.12 career ERA and 0-2 record, plus seven strikeouts, 15 walks and 16 hits allowed (.314 opponent batting average) in seven appearances (two starts) and 11.1 innings ... must step into expanded role this spring ... must trust his stuff ... not a big strikeout guy that must pitch to contact, locate down in the zone and be comfortable with balls in play ... regardless of role, could also start midweek games, extremely important to staff ... carried a 3.901 cumulative GPA into the `12 spring semester following a perfect 4.000 GPA in the `11 fall semester.
SOPHOMORE SEASON (2011): Made four appearances - all out of the Irish bullpen ... went 0-0 with a 14.54 ERA ... allowed eight hits in 4.1 innings of work as opposed batted .348 ... struck out four and walked 10 ... Notre Dame posted an 1-3 record when Veerkamp pitched ... tossed a scoreless inning of relief in the 5-0 victory over Seattle on Feb. 25 ... roughed up for four earned runs on two hits and five walks in 0.2 innings of work against Iowa on Mar. 18 ... struck out three, walked two and yielded two earned runs on three hits in season-high 2.0 innings against Michigan State on May 17 ... yielded two hits, two walks and five runs, only one earned, in 0.2 innings against Louisville on May 19.
FRESHMAN SEASON (2010): Made three appearances and one start ... went 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA ... allowed eight hits in 7.0 innings of work as opponents batted .286 against him ... struck out three and walked five ... Notre Dame posted an 0-3 record when Veerkamp pitched ... struggled over his first two career appearances, both starts, against UTPA (2.2 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K) and UIC (2.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K), but rebounded with 2.0 hitless and scoreless innings of relief versus Michigan on Apr. 21.
PREP & PERSONAL: Four-year starter and letterwinner at Homestead High School ... registered a .401 career batting average ... posted a 13-3 career mark as a pitcher ... as a senior, went 7-2 with a 1.86 earned run average in 49.0 innings pitched with 63 strikeouts ... also batted .468 with four home runs ... helped Homestead H.S. to a 23-4 record ... named first team all-conference, all-area and selected to participate in the North-South All-Star contest ... named high school pitcher of the year and academic all-state ... went 6-1 with a 3.46 earned run average with 33 strikeouts in 26.1 innings of work last spring ... led Homestead to a runner-up finish in the 4A state tournament ... two-way player also batted .347 with a .613 slugging percentage for the 26-6 Spartans ... ranked as the sixth-best player from the state of Indiana by the Prep Baseball Report ... named to the honor roll every semester of high school ... member of the National Honor Society and also a AP Scholar of Distinction ... born Aug. 18, 1990 ... full name is Patrick Michael Veerkamp ... son of Gregory and Mary Pat Veerkamp ... has a younger brother Daniel ... enrolled in the College of Science as a pre-professional studies major.
