EUCLID, Ohio -- #Jesse Bartle#'s walk off three-run homer capped a six-run seventh inning in game one of Saturday's doubleheader at Paul Serra Field, as Notre Dame snapped their five-game losing streak by splitting the twin bill against Walsh. (Gm-1) | (Gm-2)

The split brought Notre Dame (20-10, 7-5) their 20th victory of the season, doubling last year's win total. Walsh (10-18, 4-8) took three out of four games in the series after splitting the double dip, and scored 43 runs on 38 hits over the course of the doubleheader.

Whipping winds made routine fly balls, anything but, making it tough on both defenses all afternoon long. The winds at times, topped 30 miles per hour. Walsh was able to take advantage of four Falcon errors in the first contest, and their potent offense produced 10 runs on 11 hits. The Cavaliers scored in every inning except the first.

Notre Dame was able to draw first blood in the bottom of the first inning in game one, on #Tony Younis#'s sacrifice fly which scored #Pat Ross#. Walsh's Dave Krusinski tied the game moments later with a solo homerun in the top of the second, and Mark Kelly gave the Cavaliers a 2-1 lead with an RBI single in the first half of the third. Krusinski's homer was the first of 11 homeruns hit on the afternoon.

The Falcons were down 5-1 after Walsh scored three times in the top of the fourth inning, but Notre Dame was able to cut that lead in half by plating a pair of runs on #Benji Jarabeck#'s two-run double to center field. Down 8-3, heading into the sixth inning, Notre Dame hit their first long ball of the night, as
#Brett Zientarski# went deep for the first time this season, a two-run shot that cut the deficit to three. Walsh answered in the top of the seventh with a two-run inning of their own, to take a 10-5 lead through six and a half.

Notre Dame's offense went to work quickly in the seventh inning to come from behind and win the game. Ross reached on an error to get the party started, and scored a few moments later on Younis's base hit. Zientarski followed Younis with a single to load the bases, before #Travis Brown# reached on an error committed by Walsh second baseman Matt Spillman, allowing #Ryan Weaver# to score. Jarabeck drove in NDC's next run on a sacrifice fly to make it 10-8. Bartle stepped in for the Falcons with two on and two out, when he sent Steve Weirich's pitch over the wall in left field to end the game. The homerun was Bartle's second of the season, capping NDC's 11-10 victory.

The whipping winds and the drop in temperature did very little to affect Walsh's offense. Despite the near 20-degree temperature drop at Paul Serra Field in the second game, the Walsh bats remained red hot, as the Cavaliers proceeded to score 33 runs on 27 hits, including seven homeruns, to win the second game, 33-7. Walsh's 33 runs are the most surrendered in a single game in the history of Falcon baseball. Walsh was up 14-0 after two innings, and won the game in five frames.

#Brent Edmonds# (1-1) earned the victory for Notre Dame in the first contest, allowing a pair of runs, one earned on two hits in his only inning of relief, while Weirich (0-1) took the loss for the Cavaliers. #Andrew Hyde# (2-2) was the first of six pitchers used by NDC in the second game, and suffered the loss. He was not able to make it out of the first inning, after allowing seven runs, five earned on three hits, and three walks through two-thirds of the first inning. Zach Speer (2-1) went all five innings for Walsh, earning the victory after giving up seven runs on nine hits.

Zientarski paced the Falcons offensively in the double dip, going 4-for-6 with four runs scored and four RBI. The senior from Vermillion, Ohio, is now hitting .373 on the season, which is second best on the squad. Jarabeck went 3-for-4 in the doubleheader and drove in four runs, giving him 21 RBI on the season, tied for second most on the team. Bartle went 1-for-5 on the afternoon, but drove in four runs, and is tied with #Chris Szabo# and Younis for the team lead in homeruns with two.

Notre Dame's victory in game one, improved their record to 9-0 in one run games, and marked the earliest date for win number 20 in program history. The earliest NDC had gotten to 20 wins previously, was April 28, back in 2008.

Notre Dame will return to action on Tuesday, April 6, when they welcome John Carroll to Paul Serra Field. The first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.