This Week: Notre Dame College will travel to Fairmont State University for a four-game series on Friday Apr. 15 and Saturday Apr. 16. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m. with a doubleheader slated for both days.
 
Records: NDC begins this week at 16-17 (11-5 MEC) and in third place in the MEC North Division after winning seven of their last eight inside the conference. FSU is currently 17-14 (12-4 MEC) and in second place in the MEC North Division.
 
Coaches Corner: Len Barker is in his 11^th season at the helm of the NDC baseball program for the 2022 season. Barker has a career record of 216-260. Matt Yurish is in his first season as head coach of the Fairmont State baseball program following a five-year stint with Alderson Broaddus.
 
Rankings: Neither team is ranked according to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Poll.
 
Series History: Notre Dame is 15-13 all-time when facing Fairmont State, dating back to their first meeting in 2014.
 
Noting the NDC Falcons: Notre Dame enters this week on a tear, winning their last three games in a row, including eight of their last nine. NDC took three of four games from West Liberty over the weekend. In game one, Nick Farrell walked the Falcons off for the second time this season during extra innings, 10-9. West Liberty pitching got the best of Notre Dame in game two, 4-0. In game three, the NDC weathered the storm for a comeback win, 10-6. In the series finale, Kyle Farrell and Aaron Miller shutout the Hilltoppers for a 2-0 victory. Lastly, Notre Dame topped Mercyhurst 8-7 on Tuesday Apr. 12 during a non-conference bout. Ben Ross' grand slam, along with Maximilian Schweiger's first career win and Austin Mora's first career save got the job done for the Falcons against the Lakers.
 
The aforementioned Ross leads Notre Dame on offense in every major offensive category except on-base percentage where he ranks second. The shortstop posts a .367 batting average, 1.147 OPS, .733 slugging percentage, .414 on base percentage, 44 hits, ten doubles, two triples, ten home runs, 37 RBIs, 88 total bases and 30 runs scored. Amongst the Mountain East Conference, the redshirt sophomore is 15^th in batting average, tenth in OPS, sixth in slugging percentage, second in total hits, tied for fifth in doubles, tied for sixth in triples, second in home runs, tied for first in RBIs and second in total bases.
 
Other Falcons have contributed offensive production to aid Notre Dame this season. Kyle Espineli ranks second on the team in batting average (.323) and doubles (8), while being third in OPS (.815) and slugging percentage (.430). Nick Farrell adds a .310 batting average (3^rd), five doubles (3^rd), six home runs (2^nd), 23 RBIs (3^rd), .917 OPS (2^nd) and .531 slugging percentage (2^nd). Zeuli has batted well as of late with a .309 batting average (4^th) and his team leading .434 on-base percentage. Lastly, Alec Mendoza, fresh off being named the MEC hitter of the week, has a .280 batting average and the second most RBIs on the team with 28.
 
On the mound, Austin Mora is the Falcon ace with a team-high 51.1 innings pitched on the season. Mora has two wins, a 6.49 ERA, .232 opponent batting average, with 49 strikeouts and 32 walks allowed. The redshirt senior is a workhorse who is third in the conference in innings pitched, fourth in strikeouts, fourth in opponent batting average and tied for second with three complete games.
 
Alex Dicke has come on strong as NDC's second starter, posting 33.2 innings pitched over eight appearances and five starts. Dicke has three wins, a 3.21 ERA, team best .167 opponent batting average, to go with 27 strikeouts and 20 walks. The freshman currently ranks fourth in the MEC in ERA, tied for sixth in complete games (2), while being tops in opponent batting average.
 
In addition, Jesse Clark picked up a pair of wins over the weekend to extend his team-high win total to five. Lastly, Aaron Miller has been tasked with the closing duties this season as he has generated a team-high five saves. He also posts a team-high 2.81 ERA, .237 opponent batting average, with 15 punch outs and six walks.
 
As a unit, Notre Dame is slashing .281/.360/.405 (BA/OBP/SLG) with 45 doubles, eight triples, 21 home runs and 183 runs scored. In the pitching department, NDC has an ERA of 7.19, opponent batting average of .287, with 218 strikeouts and 161 free passes.
 
Noting the FSU Falcons: Fairmont State wrapped up a four-game series with Wheeling University on Apr. 10-11. The FSU Falcons claimed three of four from the Cardinals with a 2-1 win in game one, 5-4 loss in game two, 6-2 win in game three and a 12-4 win during the series finale.
 
The FSU offense is paced by Noah Canterbury (.354), Ryan Goff (.333) and Tyler Haskins (.304) who each hit north of .300 on the season. Eight different Falcons post double-digit RBI totals, including five players at 20 or more. FSU features power across their entire lineup with eight players recording multiple home runs on the season, yet no player has more than five. Canterbury, Zachary Musgrove, and Dwayne Thomas lead the team with 21 RBIs, while Jacob Goodnight and PJ Lanham have a team-high five home runs.
 
On the bump, Fairmont touts a solid pitching staff overall with Ben Taylor (1.74) and Bryan Camacho (1.93) pacing the team with sub-2.00 ERA's, but they have only pitched 10.1 and 9.1 innings this season, respectively. Logan Smith is the is the ace of this ball club with 43 innings pitched over his eight starts this season. Smith posts a 3.14 ERA, .262 opponent batting average, along with 29 strike outs and 12 walks. Connor Cramer is the second starter for the FSU Falcons, as he and Smith have gotten the starting nod a team-high eight times this season. Cramer has a 4.79 ERA, .249 opponent batting average, while doing the majority of his damage via the strikeout. The pitcher has recorded 61 punchouts to just 13 walks thus far. Lastly, Steven Rickett's paces the squad in appearances with 13. Rickett flashes a 3.60 ERA, .203 opponent batting average, 18 strikeout and two walks.
 
As a whole, Fairmont State is slashing .278/.397/.427, with 42 doubles, five triples, 29 home runs and 200 runs scored. The FSU pitcher's have combined for a 4.04 ERA, .253 opponent batting average, to go with 227 strikeouts and 101 walks.