ALLIANCE, Ohio -- Notre Dame pulled off an eight-run comeback Sunday, coming back from an 11-3 deficit to win,
13-11, at Mount Union.
#Jack Sito# and #Mike Wilsey# each had three hits in the game, and the NDC Nine ripped a total of 18 hits, as the Falcons snapped a four-game skid and came back to win a day after being outscored by Point Park (Pa.), 39-6. In the comeback, Notre Dame tallied 10 of their 13 runs over the eighth and ninth innings of the non-conference affair.
Notre Dame (8-36) took a 2-0 lead through three innings on solo runs in the first and third. Mount Union (19-16) tied the game, with a pair of third-inning runs of Falcon starter #Chris Willoughby#. The Raiders then took a commanding 7-2 lead with a five-spot in the fifth. That chased Willoughby, who yielded all seven runs over 4-1/3 innings. The freshman left-hander from Massillon walked three and struck out as many.
Willoughby was lifted for right-hander #Alex Walke#, who was tagged for four runs in the sixth. But Walke rebounded to pitch scoreless frames in the seventh and eighth, which would eventually set up the Falcons for a comeback.
Down 11-3 heading into the eighth, Notre Dame exploded for eight runs in the eighth. In the eighth, the Blue & White sent 13 men to the plate. #Joe Leonette# and #Matt Brofman# each doubled in the inning; #Eric Pelot# hit a three-run home run. The eight-spot tied the game at 11-11.
An inning later, in the top of the ninth, Brofman knocked in the go-ahead run on a fielder's choice. Second baseman #Matt Fritz# brought home an insurance run to give NDC a 13-11 lead.
Senior left-hander #Jon Harnish# pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up the win.
“This was a good win for us, to be on the right side of a comeback like this,” said NDC Head Coach #Nick Weisheipl#.
The loss for Mount Union marked their fifth straight. The Purple Raiders have given up 10-plus runs in four of those games.
The Falcons will continue their season on Wednesday with a special home twin bill in Eastlake, Ohio, at Classic Park, the home field of the Single-A Lake County Captains. The doubleheader between NDC and Malone is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Admission is $5.
NOTES FROM THE NEST...
HIT SQUAD: Notre Dame's 18 hits on Sunday tied a single-game high this season. … Over their last six contests (2-4), the Falcons are batting .351/.441/.540 (batting/on-base/slugging).
COMING THROUGH IN THE CLUTCH: At Mount Union, NDC went 8-for-20 with runners in scoring position. In their previous five games, the Falcons had gone 7-for-40 (.175) in such situations.
