May 8, 1999
Box 1 | Box 2
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Junior Jeff Felker continued his hot hitting
and the Notre Dame baseball team moved closer to clinching the BIG EAST
Conference regular-season title, as the Irish swept a Saturday
doubleheader from Georgetown, 8-2 and 11-5, at Georgetown Diamond.
Notre Dame (38-11, 18-3 BIG EAST) clinched a top-two finish in the
BIG EAST standings while slicing its "magic number" for the regular-season
title to two vs. second-place Rutgers (17-6), which is idle before facing
Pittsburgh next week.
Nine of the 11 Irish runs in the nightcap came with two outs,
including all of the five-run first inning and the four-run fifth.
Georgetown (17-33, 2-23) remained in the BIG EAST cellar, despite
holding an 11-8 edge in hits during the second game. The Hoyas stranded
eight runners in the first game, with seven left on base in the nightcap.
Irish sophomore righthander Aaron Heilman (9-2) took another step
closer to becoming the first Notre Dame pitcher since 1994 to post
double-digit victories in a season. Heilman, who worked out of bases-loaded
jams in the third and fourth innings, allowed two runs on seven hits and
four walks over six and one-third innings, with seven strikeouts. Junior
John Corbin set down the final two GU batters to close out the opening win.
Senior righthander Alex Shilliday (4-3) won the nightcap, allowing
four runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks, with seven Ks.
Hoyas senior lefty Derek Pines (4-8) dropped the opener, allowing
eights runs on 10 hits over six innings, while senior righthander Franklin
Jarman fell to 1-4 in the nightcap (7 IP, 9 R, 5 ER, 6 H, 7 BB).
Felker collected five hits in seven at-bats during the
doubleheader, plus seven RBI, four runs scored, a home run, a double, a
walk, and one time hit-by-pitch.
Other top offensive players for the Irish included junior shortstop
Brant Ust (4-for-8, 3 RBI, 4 R, HR, 2B), who entered the day with a .600
career batting average vs. the Hoyas (15-for-25). He pushed his career
average in BIG EAST regular-season games to .425 (97-for-228), second in
BIG EAST history behind former Seton Hall great Marteese Robinson (.432,
1985-87).
GAME 1: The Irish opened the scoring with two runs in the second, after
Ust's first-pitch double, Nussbaum's single to left field, a wild pitch and
Felker's two-run, opposite-field double to left-center ... Ust singled home
Steve Stanley in the third while GU plated single runs in the third and
fourth ... the Irish tacked on two runs in the fourth, when Felker was hit
by the first pitch, followed by singles through the right side by Matt
Strickroth and Paul O'Toole (RBI) and Ben Cooke's run-scoring groundout ...
the three-run sixth included Nussbaum's leadoff walk, Felker's two-strike
single through the right side, O'Toole's two-run double to left, Cooke's
two-strike single to right-center and Stanley's sacrifice fly.
GAME 2: The Irish five-run first inning was ignited by Alec Porzel's
two-out walk (on four pitches), Ust's full-count walk and Nussbaum's RBI
double past the third-base bag ... Felker then plated two runs with a bloop
single to center field, followed by Ken Meyer's walk and Andrew Bushey's
two-run double to left-center ... GU made things interesting with one run
in the third and two in the fourth ... the Irish responded with a four-run
fifth, all of them coming unearned after another two-out rally ... Porzel
drew a walk before Ust reached on a throwing error by the third baseman ...
a throwing error on the shortstop allowed Nussbaum to reach base (with
Porzel scoring on the play) before Felker lifted a 1-0 pitch over the
right-center field fence ... GU added single runs in the sixth and seventh
before Ust capped the scoring with a two-run home run in the ninth
(plating Porzel) ... the home run was Ust's first in 14 games and just his
third since March 30 ... Ust now has 16 home runs for the season, ranking
sixth in the Irish record book behind Jeff Wagner's 17 in 1997, three
players who hit 18 (Tim Hutson in '88, Ryan Topham in '95 and Ust in '98)
and Frank Jacobs' record 20 in 1991 ... Ust's 45 career home runs are
second to only Wagner's 49 ... Ust also has 19 career home runs during BIG
EAST regular-season games, ranking fourth in BIG EAST history behind former
Seton Hall great Mo Vaughn (26), Wagner (24) and Jason Grabowski (21,
UConn, '95-'97).
NOTES: Heilman now has 98 strikeouts for the season, moving past Shilliday
and Brad Lidge (who each had 93 in '98) into second on the Irish season K
list, behind Frank Carpin's 108 in 1958 ... Ust moved past current Irish
assistant coach Cory Mee into a tie with Topham for ninth on the Irish
career RBI list (165), just one out of seventh ... Ust also moved past Greg
Layson (1991-94) into 10th on the career hits list (232), one out of eighth
... Ust's double was the 49th of his career, one out of fourth in the Irish
record book ... Shilliday's seven Ks give him 254 for his career, just nine
behind Chris Michalak (1990-93) for third in Irish history ... Shilliday
posted his 25th career win, tying Pat Leahy (1990-92) for seventh all-time
at Notre Dame ... Shilliday also moved into a tie with David Sinnes
(1990-93) for seventh in career starts (40) ... the first game marked the
900th career game for Notre Dame's Paul Mainieri, who is nearing the end of
his 16th career season as a college head coach.
NOTRE DAME 0-2-1 2-0-3 0 8 11 2
GEORGETOWN 0-0-1 1-0-0 0 2 7 0
Pines, Becchetti (7) and Bok. Heilman, Corbin (7) and O'Toole.
NOTRE DAME 5-0-0 0-4-0 0-0-2 11 8 2
GEORGETOWN 0-0-1 2-0-1 1-0-0 5 11 2
Jarman, Roche (8) and Wade, Bok (9). Shilliday, Naumann (7), Kalita (8)
and O'Toole.
