This Week: The Notre Dame College baseball team heads into Mountain East Conference play with a pair of road series. On Monday Mar. 20, NDC will battle Davis & Elkins College in Elkins, W.Va. before moving on to face West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, W.Va. on Tuesday Mar. 21. In addition, the Falcons will host Lake Erie College on Thursday Mar. 23 for Notre Dame's home opener.
 
NDC will play doubleheaders against D&E and WVWC beginning at 1 p.m. On Thursday, NDC and LEC will play a nine-inning contest starting at 2 p.m.
 
Schedule Change: The doubleheader at Davis & Elkins College has been moved from Saturday to Monday and the two games at West Virginia Wesleyan College, originally scheduled for Sunday, will now be played on Tuesday. The Falcons' home opener against Lake Erie College has been moved from Tuesday to Thursday.
 
Records: Notre Dame begins the week at 0-9, while D&E is 0-11 and WVWC sits at 4-8. Moreover, LEC is 1-13 on the year.
 
Coaches Corner: Len Barker is entering his 12^th season at the helm of the NDC baseball program for the 2022 season. Barker has a career record of 226-278. Brett Ripley is in his first season with Davis & Elkins, as Lee Bradley and Landon Hutchison are each in their second seasons with WV Wesleyan and Lake Erie, respectively.
 
Rankings: None of these teams are ranked according to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).
 
Series History: NDC holds a 4-2 all-time record when facing D&E, dating back to their first meeting in 2018 and including the Falcons pair of victories (8-4 and 13-2) at home last season. The Falcons are 12-7 all-time against WV Wesleyan, dating back to their first meeting in 2012, and including Notre Dame's two wins last year (7-6 and 15-8). Lastly, NDC maintains an 11-8 all-time record against Lake Erie College, dating back to their first meeting in 2008 and including three wins from the Falcons last year (4-3, 8-4 and 5-4).
 
Noting the Falcons: Last week, Notre Dame competed at their annual spring break trip in Florida where the Falcons saw competition from Ashland, Lewis, Flagler, Rollins and Minnesota Crookston. NDC played six games in six days on the week, en route to an 0-6 record.
 
NDC has found production at the plate in redshirt sophomore Maximilian Schweiger's team-high .333 batting average and three doubles. The outfielder has a pair of RBI on the year as he is NDC's leader in extra-base hits.
 
Zachary Kakos, Johnathan Cook and Tyler Shadle also tout batting averages at or above the .300 mark, as Kakos, Shadle, Devon Minney and Johnny Costella are all tied for the team lead in RBI (3).
 
As a unit, Notre Dame is slashing .172/.278/.216 (BA/OBP/SLG), with 17 runs scored, five doubles and two home runs.
 
On the mound, Preston Mauzy and Danny Brammer have offered NDC quality innings out of the bullpen. Mauzy leads the team with a 2.45 ERA and 1.36 WHIP over three appearances this season. Brammer boasts the top opponent batting average on the team (.250), while also flashing an ERA of 3.00 and a 1.67 WHIP in three innings pitched.
 
As a team, NDC has a 16.09 ERA, 2.98 WHIP, .388 opponent batting average, to go with 41 strikeouts and 77 walks allowed.
 
Noting the Senators: Last week, Davis & Elkins went 0-8 on their trip down to Florida, suffering defeats to Lewis, Minnesota Crookston, Grand Valley State, Minnesota Duluth and Winona State.
 
Larry Kusan headlines the Senators batting order with a .323 average, including a team-high 10 hits, three doubles and a .400 on-base percentage.
 
Aydin Zimmerman offers assistance at the plate with a team leading four RBI and four extra-base hits, as Zimmerman holds a batting average of .290. The freshman also leads the team in OPS (.827) and slugging percentage (.484).
 
The Senators generate a slash line of .163/.263/.215, to go with 15 runs scored, eight doubles, two triples and one home run.
 
On the bump, Zachary McGillan is the team's top arm, featuring a 9.00 ERA, 1.91 WHIP, over a team-high 11.0 innings pitched.
 
D&E posts a 13.44 ERA, 2.85 WHIP, .403 opponent batting average, to go with 47 strikeouts and 60 walks allowed.
 
Noting the Bobcats: Last week, West Virginia Wesleyan went 1-6 during their trip down to Florida, with losses to Seton Hill, Minnesota Crookston, Minnesota Duluth, Lewis, Ashland and Winona State, followed by a 15-5 win against Wayne State. The Bobcats closed out the week with a pair of victories at Bluefield State on Saturday, 10-2 and 15-3.
 
Jack Tilton is the heart and soul to the WV Wesleyan offense, leading the team in batting average (.426), OPS (1.068), slugging (.596), on-base percentage (.472), hits (20), doubles (3), home runs (1) and extra-base hits (5). Tilton is one of three Bobcats to post double digit RBI with 11.
 
Thatcher Poteat is the team's leader in RBI (12), while also joining Tilton as the only two Bobcats with at least a .400 batting average (.400).
 
As a squad, WV Wesleyan posts a slash line of .287/.373/.340, to go with 75 runs scored, 12 doubles, three triples and one home run.
 
On the other hand, WVWC holds a 9.40 team ERA, 2.02 WHIP, .447 opponent batting average, to go along with 55 strikeouts and 45 walks allowed.
 
Reliever Austin Mann is the team's top arm, boasting a 0.00 ERA over four appearances, including 7.2 innings pitched. Mann has punched out six, while yet to walk a batter.
 
Starter Hunter Eplin is the team's ace with a 5.40 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, .389 opponent batting average, 11 strikeouts and four walks allowed.
 
Noting the Storm: Last week, Lake Erie traveled to the Carolinas to compete against Shepherd, Chowan, UNC Pembroke and Francis Marion. The Storm went 1-7, grabbing a win over Chowan 10-3.
 
Israel Espinosa is the top bat in the Storm's lineup, hitting .302, with a team-high nine RBI.
 
Jacob Mote, Ty Sowers and Graham Solak tout multiple extra-base hits on the year, however Espinosa is lone player hitting north of .280 on the season.
 
Lake Erie has a slash line of .213/.338/.267, to go with 49 runs scored, nine doubles, two triples and three home runs.
 
On the mound, Zach Saffell is Lake Erie's top weapon, flashing a team-best 3.86 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, .245 opponent batting average and one complete game. Safflel has pitched in four games, totaling 14 innings, striking out 11 and walking eight.
 
As a pitching staff, the Storm has amassed a 9.26 ERA, 2.22 WHIP, .339 opponent batting average, to go with 77 strikeouts and 79 walks allowed.