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Baseball by Andy Barch

Senior Salute

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
AVON, Ohio -- The Notre Dame Falcons executed  a double header sweep over Fairmont State on Senior Day in their home finale at All Pro Freight Stadium on Sunday afternoon, with 4-0 and 6-1 victories.  

Notre Dame (21-16, 21-11 MEC) pitching allowed just one run on eight hits during the twin bill, as the Falcons finished with a 17-5 record at All Pro Freight Stadium this season. Fairmont State (9-30, 8-28 MEC) has now lost four of their last six games. 

Before the game, the Falcons honored five seniors, Bryan Blondeaux, Zach Gresch, Dante LaRiccia, Taylor Neville, and Shane DeFranco, who played their finale home games on Sunday. 

Game One
Notre Dame belted a pair of extra base hits through the first couple of innings, and had runners in scoring position, but could not cash in. 

In the fifth, Danny Beaver led off with a bunt base hit, before Travis Smetana was hit by a pitch, and TJ Lett drove them both home on a triple to right field, which was his second three-bagger of the contest. Moments later, Taylor Neville drove Lett home on a single to center field. 

Fairmont State threatened to dive into the deficit in the next half inning, but Zach Gresch (3-4) worked out of a jam. The Fighting Falcons had runners at the corners and nobody out, but couldn't push any runs across as Gresch induced a pair of shallow flyouts and a groundout to end the inning. 

Notre Dame added another run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Jalen Fields was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Fields stole second, made his way to third on a groundout, and scored on Travis Smetana's RBI single to left. 

Gresch tossed his fifth complete game of the season in the winning effort, and his first shutout of the season, as he limited FSU to just five hits, and fanned three batters in the victory. Lett and Troy Findlay had huge games for the Falcons. Lett went 3-for-4 with three extra base hits, and Findlay went 3-for-3. 

Game Two
The Falcons wasted no time getting started in the second contest, as they plated a pair of runs on two hits in the home half of the first inning. Smetana reached on a one out free pass, and Lett followed with his third triple of the day, sending it down the right field line to score Smetana easily. Neville followed with a double down the line in right to bring Lett home. 

Notre Dame added four more runs in the second inning to take a 6-0 advantage. Blake Miller started the inning with an opposite field single to right, and made his way to second after Findlay walked. Austin Barnhart laid down a sacrifice bunt to move them both over, and Danny Beaver brought them both home on a two-run double to left. Smetana followed with a single to right, scoring Beaver in the process, and Neville stroked a single to right to plate Smetana to cap the big inning. 

Fairmont State scored their first and only run of the day in the top of the fourth inning. They had runners on first and second with two down, when Nic Rush singled into left center field go score Adam Meeker. 

Zack LaRocca (5-2) went the distance, tossing his third complete game of the season, and allowed just a run on three hits while fanning four batters in a winning effort. Neville paced the Falcons in game two, going 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs. 

The Falcons are in action again on Saturday, May 2, when they head to Urbana, Ohio, for their final Mountain East Conference weekend series of the season. They'll square off against Urbana in a double header on Saturday, which begins at 1 p.m. 
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Players Mentioned

Danny Beaver

#17 Danny Beaver

OF
6' 1"
Sophomore
L/R
Bryan Blondeaux

#10 Bryan Blondeaux

OF
5' 10"
Senior
R/R
Shane DeFranco

#2 Shane DeFranco

INF
5' 7"
Senior
R/R
Troy  Findlay

#5 Troy Findlay

C
6' 1"
Junior
R/R
Zach Gresch

#36 Zach Gresch

LHP
6' 2"
Senior
L/L
Dante LaRiccia

#33 Dante LaRiccia

RHP
6' 0"
Senior
R/R
Zack LaRocca

#44 Zack LaRocca

RHP
6' 1"
Redshirt Sophomore
R/R
TJ Lett

#3 TJ Lett

OF
5' 8"
Sophomore
R/R
Taylor Neville

#31 Taylor Neville

1B
6' 2"
Senior
L/R
Travis Smetana

#37 Travis Smetana

SS
6' 0"
Junior
R/R

Players Mentioned

Danny Beaver

#17 Danny Beaver

6' 1"
Sophomore
L/R
OF
Bryan Blondeaux

#10 Bryan Blondeaux

5' 10"
Senior
R/R
OF
Shane DeFranco

#2 Shane DeFranco

5' 7"
Senior
R/R
INF
Troy  Findlay

#5 Troy Findlay

6' 1"
Junior
R/R
C
Zach Gresch

#36 Zach Gresch

6' 2"
Senior
L/L
LHP
Dante LaRiccia

#33 Dante LaRiccia

6' 0"
Senior
R/R
RHP
Zack LaRocca

#44 Zack LaRocca

6' 1"
Redshirt Sophomore
R/R
RHP
TJ Lett

#3 TJ Lett

5' 8"
Sophomore
R/R
OF
Taylor Neville

#31 Taylor Neville

6' 2"
Senior
L/R
1B
Travis Smetana

#37 Travis Smetana

6' 0"
Junior
R/R
SS