This week: Notre Dame hosts UVa-Wise and Concord this week at Sprenger Stadium in Avon, Ohio. The doubleheaders will be played on Saturday, March 24, and Sunday, March 25, with start times of 1 and 3 p.m.
Records: The Falcons are 2-15, 0-4 MEC after falling to West Virginia State and Charleston last week. UVa-Wise is 5-12, 2-2 MEC after opening conference play with two losses against West Liberty and two wins against Wheeling Jesuit. Concord is 10-6, 4-0 MEC and swept WLU and WJU last week.
Coaches Corner: Len Barker is in his seventh season as the head coach at Notre Dame. Barker is 133-168-1, 79-64 MEC at the helm of the Falcons' program. Hank Banner, a UVa-Wise alumnus, is in his 22nd season with the Cavaliers. Kevin Garrett is in his 18th season at Concord. He is 420-314 with the Mountain Lions.
Rankings: None of the teams competing this weekend were ranked in the March 21 National College Baseball Writers' Association Poll.
Series History: Notre Dame is 10-14 against West Virginia State in a series dating back to 2012. The Falcons are 4-12 against Concord in that same time frame.
Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame was 1-3 last year in its home-opening weekend, but the Falcons have gone 13-5 in their first two home dates since joining the NCAA Division II ranks prior to the 2013 season. Since taking over in 2012,
Len Barker has gone 57-35 at home games, including an 8-9 record last season. In his freshman campaign last season, starting pitcher
Tyler Gault was 3-0 at home. Gault won all three of his starts in Sprenger Stadium, including a complete-game shutout against West Virginia State.
Noting the Cavaliers: Without a trip to a tournament or invitational this season, UVa-Wise's games have been a bit scattered. The Cavaliers played nine games from February 2-17 then were on a hiatus until March 3. The team played on the 3rd and 4th, but again had a break until last week on the 18th. These gaps in play have been due to the postponed and canceled games likely due to weather. Despite the long time between competitions, the Cavs have had six pitchers with at least two starts. Four of those six have also gone in during relief situations. To go along with the deep pitching rotation, the UVa-Wise offense has its fair share of performers. Four players are hitting over .380 this season with Dawson Cagle leading the way with a .440 batting average. On three of his 11 hits this season, Cagle has put the ball out of the park.
Noting the Mountain Lions: Concord started its season off with three losses at Wingate, but have been on a bit of a roll since then. The Mountain Lions are 10-3 in their last 13 games and have won a against some talented opponents, including a two-game sweep at Winston-Salem State. Unlike UVa-Wise, the Concord pitching staff is a small group. Only three Mountain Lion pitchers have started on multiple occasions. Troy Beckner, who has six starts under his belt, leads the team with 39 strikeouts in just 26.2 innings. Offensively, Concord has four batters hitting above .300 and two just shy in the .290s.
