This Week: Notre Dame College begins a seven-game road swing this week with five contests in which the Falcons will be the away team. First, NDC heads to Classic Park, in Eastlake, Ohio, to play a single game against Lake Erie today, April 25, at 5 p.m. The team then travels to Shepherd for a four-game series to be played on Saturday and Sunday, April 27 and 28. Both days' doubleheaders are scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.

Records: The Falcons are 19-22 (13-11 MEC) after sweeping Wheeling Jesuit last week. Lake Erie is 20-20 so far this season. The Storm had a good showing earlier this week against Findlay as they are also coming off a four-game sweep. Shepherd is 29-11 (19-3 MEC). The Rams most recently lost to No. 18 Millersville, but are on a nine-game conference winning streak.

Coaches Corner: Len Barker is in his eighth season as the head coach at Notre Dame. Barker is 171-207-1, 106-85 MEC. Ray Skjold is in his first year with Lake Erie. His team is 20-20 this season. Matt McCarty is in his seventh season at the helm of Shepherd.

Rankings: None of the other teams competing this week were ranked in the April 22 National College Baseball Writers' Association Poll. Shepherd did receive votes and is the second team out of the top 25 with 14 points.

Series History: Notre Dame will look to keep its winning record of 6-5 against Lake Erie today. Notre Dame broke the tie last season with an 8-7 home victory. Prior to last year's contest, the teams had not played since 2013. The Falcons will also look to stay close with a tough opponents in Shepherd as NDC is 10-11 against the Rams. Notre Dame was 1-3 against Shepherd last season and 2-2 in 2017.

Noting the Falcons: After losing three of their four games against Fairmont State earlier this year, Notre Dame has been able to climb back to a tie for second place in the MEC North Division standings. With just eight games left to play, the teams will likely be battling to the end. Both teams still have to play the division leaders in Shepherd, with FSU ending their 2019 regular season against the Rams. But each team also has an easier four-game series ahead of them. Fairmont State will at 8-30 West Liberty this weekend while Notre Dame ends its regular season against Urbana, who holds a 4-20 MEC record. Both teams need to just win three games throughout the rest of 2019 to secure their spot in the MEC Tournament.  

Noting the Storm: Both Lake Erie and Notre Dame have not played many single games against opponents this season. The Storm's game against NDC will be the fourth for Lake Erie and the fifth for the Falcons. So far this year LEC has not fared well in these contests as they are 0-3 with a run differential of 49-13. Notre Dame, in its final single game of the season will look to walk away with a winning record in these matchups as the Falcons are 2-2 in these competitions.

Noting the Rams: Since the Mountain East Conference formed, prior to the 2014 baseball season, Shepherd has been the top team in the league. The Rams have had the most wins of any conference team in every year. This season is no different so far. SU has a league-high 29 wins. But Charleston is close behind with 28 and Concord lurks with 26. Shepherd was recently ranked seventh in the Atlantic Region rankings by the NCAA, which puts them just one spot out of the NCAA Tournament if it were to begin today.