HIRAM, Ohio -- Sophomore catcher #Miguel Rodriguez# slugged three home runs, and the Notre Dame bats came alive Thursday, as the Falcons defeated Hiram, 19-7. The win for NDC snaps a 10-game losing streak, which began on April 5. (Box)
The game pitted a pair of struggling teams against one another - NDC and HC came into Thursday's game with a combined record of 8-57 (.123). Notre Dame (7-32) hit for a small straight in the game, scoring three runs in the seventh inning, four in the ninth, five in the fifth and six in the third.
Rodriguez, who came into the game with one career home run, collected eight RBIs on his three long balls. The Falcon backstop hit three-run shots in both the seventh and ninth innings. #Danny Gesick# also went deep for the Falcons, who collected season-highs in runs and hits (18). NDC reached base 26 times on 18 hits, seven walks and a hit batter.
Hiram (2-26) took a 4-0 lead off NDC starter #Alex Walke# with a four-spot in the bottom of the second inning. But NDC fought back, scoring six runs in the top of the third and then six more over the fourth and fifth innings. For the game, Walke went five innings; he gave up five runs on eight hits. The story on Thursday, however, was the Notre Dame offense.
Six players had multi-hit games - Rodriguez went 3-for-5, Gesick went 4-for-5 with three runs and three RBIs. #Eric Johnson#, #Eric Pelot#, #Mike Wilsey# and #Joe Young# each had two hits. The Falcons' 19 runs mark the most they've had in a single game since tallying the same figure against Miami-Hamilton on March 13, 2008.
The victory for Notre Dame marks their first since April 4.
Thursday's game at Hiram kicked off a stretch where the Falcons will play six games in four days. That slate will continue on Friday with Notre Dame scheduled to play an American Mideast Conference twin bill at Point Park (Pa.) on Friday, April 24 (1 p.m. first pitch).
NOTES FROM THE NEST…
OUGHTTA BE A CLASSIC: On Wednesday, April 29, Notre Dame's home doubleheader against Malone will be held in Eastlake, Ohio, at Classic Park, the home of the Single-A Lake County Captains. The AMC twin bill is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start. Admission is $5, with gate-entry at the park's main gate.
CLUB 150: Senior left fielder #Jack Sito# didn't get in on much of the action Thursday, going just 1-for-7 in Notre Dame's 19-run outburst. But the Elyria, Ohio, native did join an exclusive club nonetheless. Sito's base hit, a third-inning triple, marked the 150th of his career. He is the first player in NDC history to record 150 hits. ... Sito's triple was his fourth of the season, which ties an NDC single-season mark. He has now ripped 11 three-baggers in his three-year Falcon career.
