April 20, 1999
Notre Dame freshman centerfielder Steve Stanley (Upper Arlington, Ohio)
has earned his second BIG EAST Conference baseball rookie-of-the-week
award, after a highly-productive showing in four games during the week
of April 12-18.
Stanley led Notre Dame during week in batting average (.625) and
hits (10-for-16), while also totaling three RBI, four runs scored, one
sacrifice bunt, two walks, one stolen base and a runner thrown out at
home (from his centerfield position). He hit 5-for-7 with runners on
base, 3-for-6 with two outs and 3-for-4 with runners in scoring
position. Stanley also reached on four of his five leadoff chances,
while adjusting to a new batter hitting in front of him (after Jeff
Perconte's season-ending shoulder injury). He also has played the last
month with a new batter behind him (in No. 2 hole), after Andrew
Bushey's knee injury on March 21.
Stanley pushed hit hitting streak to seven games, including a
9-for-13 effort in the three-game Boston College series.
In the midweek win over Cleveland State, he went 1-for-3 while
also making a crucial fielding assist in the sixth inning, on a throw to
the plate that preserved a 2-2 game.
In the opener of the BC series, Stanley had an impressive
4-for-4 game, with one RBI, two runs and a walk. He played a crucial
role in the Irish comeback from 6-1 deficit, by scoring or driving in
three of the team's first six runs. Stanley walked and scored in the
first inning, laid down a bunt single and scored in the sixth, and
legged out an RBI infield single in the seventh as the Irish scored
twice to force extra innings (BC won 10-7 in the eighth).
Stanley then batted 2-for-5 in the nightcap, with a perfect RBI
bunt single to the second baseman in the seventh inning. He wrapped up
the series by going 3-for-4, with an RBI, two runs, a walk and a stolen
base. He converted a bunt singled and scored in fifth, during the early
stages of a comeback from a 7-0 deficit. Stanley then slapped an RBI
single through the infield in the sixth. In the decisive five-run
eighth, he walked on a full count, stole second and scored the tying run
as the Irish rallied for an 11-8 win.
Stanley ranks fifth among Notre Dame regulars with a .317
overall batting average (46-for-145), plus 20 RBI, 29 runs scored, one
triple, two doubles, more walks than strikeouts (15:14), a team-best six
sacrifice flies and three sacrifice bunts. He has made just one error in
59 fielding chances (.983) while ranking second in the BIG EAST with 16
stolen bases on 21 attempts (Connecticut's Glenn Katz has 18). He ranks
second on the team with a .390 batting average when runners are in
scoring position (16-for-41) and has reached base on 47 percent of his
leadoff plate appearances (21 of 45).
Stanley's .415 batting average in BIG EAST action (27-for-65)
ranks eighth in the conference and first among all BIG EAST freshmen.
His 27 hits in BIG EAST play rank fifth among all conference players
while Stanley and Katz share the conference lead with eighth stolen
bases in BIG EAST play.
Notre Dame players have combined for seven BIG EAST weekly
awards in 1999, second only to Providence (9) among the league's 11
teams. Sophomore righthander Aaron Heilman has earned three BIG EAST
pitcher-of-the-week honors (March 15, March 22, April 12) while Stanley
was named rookie of the week on March 15. The other Notre Dame weekly
award winners in 1999 include junior shortstop Brant Ust (player of the
week, March 29) and junior first baseman Jeff Felker (player of the
week, April 5). The Irish have produced at least one award winner during
each of the past six weeks.
Stanley and Providence outfielder Mike Scott are the only
multiple winners of the BIG EAST rookie-of-the-week award (Scott has
been honored three times).
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