AVON, Ohio -- Notre Dame fell to Miami-Hamilton, 4-2, on Sunday. The visiting Harriers earned the victory in come-from-behind fashion, besting the Falcons with two runs in the seventh and two in the ninth after having fallen behind, 2-0. (Box)

The game was a special “home-away-from-home” tilt from Notre Dame (26-14) -- it was played at the home of the Frontier League Lake Erie Crushers, All Pro Freight Stadium, in Avon.

Notre Dame starter #Chris Willoughby# evidently felt comfortable in the team's temporary environs -- he was locked in a scoreless tie with MU-Hamilton's Luke Woolridge until the fifth inning, when NDC plated a pair of runs on RBI singles by #Pat Ross# and #Tony Younis#. Willoughby pitched six shutout innings, walking three while allowing just two hits. He fanned three in lowering his ERA to 4.70.

Willoughby got out of a jam in the sixth with an outstanding 6-4-3 double play turned by the Falcon infield.

#Matt Fritz# relieved Willoughby in the seventh; he allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits over two innings. The Harriers scored three of their four runs with two outs.

In the ninth, MUH put together two runs on three singles. NDC loaded the bases in their half of the ninth but failed to push across a run against Harrier reliever Brandon Moore. For the game, Notre Dame went 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

NDC out-hit the Harriers, 10-8, in the game. The Falcons' leading batter was Younis, who went 3-for-4 with a double. Ross also had three hits in the game; he went 3-for-5 with a pair of stolen bases. #Jesse Bartle# also reached three times in the game, each time on a base on balls.

For MU-Hamilton, Luke Woolridge went eight innings, yielding 10 hits and striking out eight.

The loss for NDC snaps a three-game winning streak and the non-conference tilt came on the heels of the Falcons taking three of four from Malone on Thursday and Saturday. That series win has Notre Dame currently in second place in the American Mideast Conference standings.

An announced crowd of 168 took in the game at All Pro Freight Stadium, a state-of-the-art facility owned by the City of Avon that opened in 2009. NDC will return to their “Westside home park” on Wednesday, April 21, when they host Lake Erie.


NOTES FROM THE NEST …

HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN: Sunday's game counts as a home game in the record books; the Falcons are now 11-5 at home in 2010. Prior to the loss to the Harriers, NDC had won five of their previous six games at home. … In 16 home tilts, the Falcons have scored 122 runs while giving up 123. … Pat Ross (.436, 24-for-55) and Tony Younis (.431, 25-for-58) have been Notre Dame's leading hitters at home this season.

FEW AND FAR BETWEEN: NDC's two runs marked the least they've scored in a game since plating only one run at Walsh on April 1. In between, Notre Dame played 11 games and averaged 9.7 runs per contest. … The loss Sunday afternoon marked the Falcons' first this season when leading after six innings.

TURF WAR: All Pro Freight Stadium is an all-turf field and its features include a unique reddish-brown color scheme to mark the “dirt” of the infield. The field plays 325 feet down the lines and 400 to center. … Right fielder Pat Ross now has 17 multi-hit games this season. That's a team-high. Ross is batting .424/.515/.554 (batting/on-base/slugging). With his two steals in Avon, Ross has now swiped 14 bags in 16 attempts.