Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
AVON, Ohio – The Notre Dame Falcons played their first home games of the season at All Pro Freight Stadium on Saturday, and came away with a pair of victories over Virginia-Wise.

The Falcons (9-8, 7-5) have now won four out of their last five games, while the Cavaliers (5-12, 3-8) saw a brief two game win streak com to an end with the losses.  Notre Dame used a few big innings to land an 8-1 victory in the first contest, and Jake Welch twirled another gem in the second contest as the Falcons came away with a 2-0 win to grab the double header sweep.

Game One
Notre Dame took an early lead with a trio of runs in the home half of the first inning. Travis Smetana began the inning with a double to right field, and Danny Beaver followed with a base hit.  On the play, an error by Wise pitcher Kenny Ball allowed Beaver to reach second while Smetana scored.

The Falcons capitalized on another error shortly thereafter in the opening frame, when Ryan Sanders reached on third baseman Mike McCollum's error, which brought Beaver home. Jared Clovis followed with a single to put runners at the corners, when NDC benefitted from another Cavs error. Clovis stole second base, and made his way to third on an errant throw from catcher Will Cline, which brought Sanders in to cap the inning.

While the Cavs plated their lone run in the top of the third on McCollum's RBI single to right, the Falcons responded with three in the next half inning to put the game away. They had the bases loaded with one out, when Shane DeFranco reached on a fielder's choice to plate Clovis, who was hit by a pitch to begin the inning. Smetana then capped the big inning with his second of three knocks on the day, on a two-run single to right-center.

NDC added a pair of insurance runs to cushion their lead in the bottom of the sixth inning.  Keifer Quick walked with the bases loaded to bring Smetana home, and Beaver came home moments later when Clovis reached on a fielder's choice. 

Matt Kastelic (2-3) was outstanding for the Falcons and came away with the victory in the opener.  He allowed just a run on three hits while fanning seven batters over five innings of action.  Ball (1-2) suffered the loss after surrendering six runs, only three earned on six hits through three innings of work.

The top of the Notre Dame batting order set the tone, as they combined for seven of Notre Dame's 11 hits in the contest.  Smetana led the way with three knocks and drove in two runs, while Beaver and Sanders each had a pair of hits.

Game Two:
The second contest of the day was a pitcher's duel, in which Jake Welch (4-1) shined once again.  Coming off a near no-hit bid against WV Wesleyan a week ago, Welch tossed a second consecutive complete game shutout.  He allowed just three hits and fanned nine in the contest in a 2-0 NDC victory.

Notre Dame scored single runs in the first two innings to the contest, and as it turned  out, that's all they needed to secure the sweep. They plated their first run with two outs in the bottom of the first inning.  Beaver was on first base when Keifer Quick smashed a double to right center to bring Beaver home.

The Falcons scored again in the second inning, after they loaded the bases for Smetana, and he brought Shane DeFranco home on a sacrifice fly.

Beaver led the Falcons offensively with four hits on the day, going 4-for-7 in the twin bill and scored three runs.  Smetana also had a big day, driving in three runs while going 3-for-6 on the afternoon. Sanders also went 3-for-7, and DeFranco went 3-for-6 on the day with run scored and drove one in as well.

The Falcons will wrap up the weekend series with the Cavs on Sunday, March 23, with another double header in Avon, Ohio.  The first pitch in game one will be delivered at 1 p.m.