This Week: The Notre Dame College baseball team starts a five-game homestand, beginning with a doubleheader against Fairmont State University on Friday Apr. 14 at 1 p.m. NDC and FSU will turnaround to complete the four-game set on Saturday Apr. 15 for another MEC doubleheader, slated for 1 p.m. Lastly, the Falcons welcome Walsh University to Mercy Health Stadium on Wednesday Apr. 19 at 2 p.m.
 
Records: NDC begins the week at 6-22 (6-10 MEC), and tied for fourth place in the Mountain East Conference North Division. FSU sits at 8-22 (7-9 MEC), and tied for second place in the MEC North Division. WU maintains a 17-11 record (12-2 GMAC).
 
Coaches Corner: Len Barker is in his 12^th season at the helm of the NDC baseball program for the 2023 season. Barker has a career record of 232-291. Matt Yurish is the head coach of Fairmont State in his second season, holding a career record of 35-44. Lastly, Tim Mead headlines Walsh University in his 37^th year.
 
Rankings: None of these teams are ranked according to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Poll.
 
Series History: Notre Dame is 17-15 all-time when facing Fairmont State, dating back to their first meeting in 2014, as the two sides split their four-game series last season. NDC is 7-30 all-time when playing Walsh, dating back to their first meeting in 2005, and including the Cavaliers 15-4 victory back on Mar. 30.
 
Noting the NDC Falcons: Last week, Notre Dame College earned a split with Wheeling University. The Falcons fell 6-5 and 7-1 on Friday, before rebounding to win 7-6 (in 10 innings) and 14-11 (in 8 innings) on Saturday. Tyler Shadle tied a career-high with three RBI (5 on the day) in game three, while Zachary Kakos drove in a career-high three RBI in game four. In addition, Johnathan Cook registered a career-high three hits in the fourth contest. NDC rounded out the week with a high-scoring battle at Malone, despite falling 14-12.
 
On the year, Shadle paces the Notre Dame College offense batting .311, as the redshirt junior has tallied a hit in each of his last nine games. Moreover, Shadle is one of four NDC Falcons with double digit RBI (11) this season.
 
Redshirt junior Alec Mendoza leads NDC with 14 runs driven in, while batting .280 with a team-high 30 hits. The Pickerington, Ohio native has now recorded multiple-hits in five straight games, hitting 12-for-20 over that span.
 
Cook leads all qualified players with a .300 batting average, .340 slugging percentage, .397 on-base percentage and .737 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.
 
As a unit, Notre Dame posts a slash line of .233/.335/.290 (BA/OBP/SLG), to go with 31 doubles, three triples, three home runs and 108 runs scored.
 
On the mound, graduate student Devin Fish leads the NDC bullpen in appearances (10), innings pitched (22.1) and opponent batting average (.244). The New Berlin, Wis. native has been in a groove as of late, allowing one run on four hits over his last seven appearances, totaling 12.0 innings pitched.
 
Mendoza is a valuable two-way player for the Falcons, as he leads the NDC pitching staff in innings pitched (32.1) and complete games (2). Fellow starting pitcher, Johnny Anservtiz touts a team-high 26 strikeouts.
 
As a whole, NDC owns a 10.75 ERA, 2.23 WHIP, .330 opponent batting average, to go with 122 strikeouts and 164 walks allowed.
 
Noting the FSU Falcons: Last week, Fairmont State took three of four from Alderson Broaddus at home. FSU defeated AB 7-2 and 4-3 (in 8 innings) on Saturday. On Sunday, the Falcons fell 11-4 in game three, before bouncing back to a 3-1 victory in the series finale.
 
Alex Tennant is the team's top bat, flashing a .323 batting average, ranking 19^th in the MEC. Tennant owns a team-high .462 slugging percentage, including 10 doubles, tied for fifth in the MEC. Tennant is one of six FSU Falcons to record double-digit RBI (11).
 
Vince Sabatino owns a team-best 14 runs driven in, while Ryan Goff joins Tennant as the only players to hit above .300 with double-digit RBI (.301 BA, 11 RBI) on the team.
 
As a whole, Fairmont State slashes .236/.338/.319, to go with 41 doubles, two triples, eight home runs and 111 runs scored.
 
On the hill, Connor Cramer is the Fairmont State ace, touting 43.0 innings pitched, 46 strikeouts and three compete games (all team-highs). The Falcons deploy a slew of relivers in Peyton Brown, Evan McDade and Alex Seymour, who maintain ERA's below 5.00 in at least five appearances this season.
 
As a pitching staff, FSU flashes a 7.93 ERA, 1.86 WHIP, .330 opponent batting average to go with 170 punchouts and 99 walks allowed.
 
Noting the Cavaliers: Walsh carries an eight-game win streak into the week, after taking out Kentucky Wesleyan four times (9-2, 4-3, 2-0, 3-2), Wheeling once (8-5) and Lake Erie twice (17-8, 8-4). The Cavaliers also bested the NDC Falcons back on Mar. 30 15-4, beginning the win streak.
 
The Cavaliers tout eight players with double digit RBI totals, including five players with averages above .300. WU is led by Brodey Acres team-best 23 RBI and .336 batting average.
 
Matt McGrath also owns a team-high .336 average at the dish, and is one of two players to generate an OPS above 1.000 (1.002).
 
Benny Hymes is the other Cavalier to maintain an OPS north of 1.000 (1.161), as Hymes provides the power for WU with a team-leading nine home runs and .697 slugging percentage. Hymes is tied for second on the team with 20 runs driven in, while averaging .326 at the plate.
 
Starting pitcher Brody Ware posts the most games started (8), innings pitched (38.1) and strikeouts (39) on the squad. However fellow starter Asher Soltis boasts three complete games, including two shutouts to own the top ERA amongst WU starters (3.45).
 
Cole Brogan is a power arm out of the Cavalier bullpen, twirling 25 punchouts to just three walks, in a team-high 11 appearances. Brogan holds a 3.54 ERA and a team-high .98 WHIP.
 
As a whole, Walsh slashes .286/.383/.463, to go with 185 runs scored, 51 doubles, eight triples and 32 home runs. On the mound, the Cavaliers total a 5.58 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, to go with 190 strikeouts and 99 walks allowed over 226.0 innings pitched.