University of Notre Dame - Dome Yearbook (Notre Dame, IN)

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Sophomore pitcher Christian Parker delivers the ball towards the plate. The right hander finished posted an 8-3 record. Third baseman J.J. Brock rounds first base and heads for second. The junior finished the season with a .320 batting average and added 41 RBIs. ..tt ,, ■ ■ wj . . .■.,.. pholo bv kit Ruth JL Jl. P % f r - i ' ' i ' [ ' 0 ii ,iniiii i ,r ,.;« 1I , P- iiiri ' % ' llfcl - t - 1996 Baseball Team Members: (front roic) Volunteer manager Len Miklojewski, Darin Schmalz, Scott SoUmann, Paul Turco, Mike Knecht, Bob Lisanti, Ron Fiesta, Todd Frye. (second roiv) Junior manager Andy Knapke, Randall Brooks, Gregg Henebry, Pat O ' Keefe, Bret Poppleton, Kevin Lohman, J.J. Brock, senior manager Rick Delvecchio. (third row) George Restovich, Jeff Wagner, Rowan Richards, coach Cory Mee, head coach Paul Mainieri, coach Brian O ' Connor, Alex Shilliday, Wally Wedelski, Allen Greene, (back row) Mike Amrhein, Justin Scholl, Craig Allen, Dan Stavisky, Pat Davis, Rich Sauget, Brad Lidge, Chris McKeown, Mike Balicki, Christian Parker. i Sadd zJl f39

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Irish Baseball reaches NCAA Tourney for fourth time in five years; Finish second in BIG EAST Conference in first season by Mike Majba A 40-21 season might be difficult for some teams to follow, but not for the Irish. With second year head coach Paul Mainieri at the reigns, the 1 996 Baseball Team finished with an impressive 44-18 record and reached the NCAA Regional Tourna- ment for the fourth time in the past five years. The stquad ' s initial sea- son in the BIG EAST Conference marked the eighth consecutive time it has won 40 or more games. The Irish finished second in the conference, losing to champion West Virginia in the final game of the double-elimination tournament. The regular season performance earned them a berth in NCAA postseason play. They opened the South I Re- gional with a 12-1 victory over Virginia. However, the next game saw the Irish scquander a 6-1 lead late in the game to drop a close 7-6 decision at the hands of Stetson. This set up a rematch against Virginia with the loser facing elimination. The Cavaliers got revenge behind a strong pitching SE K K H mfSSB SCOREBOARD ND OPP ND OPP Georgia Tech 4 12 Chicago State lU Georgia Tech 4 9 Toledo 8 h Army 12 3 Rutgers 2 •J Navy 1 Rutgers 5 ' Air Force 12 8 Rutgers 7 10 Memphis 2 4 Northwestern 11 10 New Orleans 8 3 Purdue 7 4 New Orleans 7 11 Valparaiso 11 .■ New Orleans 7 12 Geiirgelown 3 b Lewis-Clark State 12 6 Georgetown 7 ■ Long Beach State 8 4 Geiirgetown 7 Washington 1 2 Illinois 3 13 Oral Roberts 6 ■ St. Norlvrt 13 l Southern Illinois (1 - St Norlvrl 13 1 Indiana 10 4 West Virginia 4 Oral Roberts 10 6 West Virginia 5 8 Boston College 9 Pittsburgh 8 3 Boston College 6 1 Pittsburgh 2 Providence 2 18 Michigan 8 .1 Pro idence 10 7 Setonllall 7 1 Indiana State 5 4 Seton Hall 15 1 Northeastern Illinois b 3 Seton Hall 10 1 Indiana Tech 5 West Virginia 8 10 Indiana Tech 13 4 Villanova 7 3 Butler 3 Providence 4 • Bowling tireen 7 2 St. John ' s 4 Eastern Illinois 5 West Virginia 5 2 St. Johns 7 3 West X ' irginia 4 Connecticut 7 6 Virginia 12 1 Connecticut 9 10 Stetstm University 6 7 Wise-Milwaukee 8 h Virginia 1 7 Record: 44-18 effort that ga ' e up onlv six hits to end the Irish season with a 7-1 loss. Junior right-hander Darin Schmaltz (9-4, 84.2 IP) led the pitching staff with a 2.23 ERA, finishine tenth in the nation in that categorv. Sophomores Christian Parker (4.24 ERA, 56 K) and Dan Stavisky (3.07 ERA) com- bined for a 13-4 rec(. rd. Junior lefty Gregg Henebrv finished at 6-1 with 29 strikeouts. The new face on the mound was Alex Shillida ' . The freshman ended with i (continiicil on p. 140) Senior catcher Bob Lisanti comes up lo tr to throw out a runner altenipting to steal second base. I)esii;ii.iteii hitter |elt W.imier takes a bij; s vin at the plate. 1 he freshman was named HK. I AST Conference Rookie of the ear at the end of the season. Wagner hit .287 with 10 home runs and 4t RBIs to go along with an impressive .421 on-base percentage. JO fia-ili

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Brooks selected to All-BIG EAST; Wagner named Rookie of the Year Richards, Restovich earn spots on All-South I Regional Team bif Mike Majba (continued from p. 138) impressive 44 strikeouts in just 51 innings pitched. This earned him an honor- able mention selection to the Freshman All-Ameri- can team named by Colle- giate Baseball Junior Mike Balicki pitched well as a middle reliever with a 2-0 record and a 2.81 ERA. Senior Rich Sauget was a strong closer with six saves and a 2.92 ERA. The Irish offensive charge was led by junior Randall Brooks. The second baseman finished with a .396 batting a ' er- age, 15 stolen bases, and a .451 on-base percentage to earn first-team All-BIG EAST honors. Senior catcher Bob Lisanti had a big season after coming off of an injury in 1995. He fin- ished with career highs in batting average, home runs and RBIs (.344, 3, 37). Senior right fielder Rowan Richards turned in a .303 a ' erage and 7 home runs, while his classmate first baseman George Restovich also had 7 homers while batting at a .336 clip. Both plavers were named to the .All- Senior catcher Bob Lisanti closes the web of his glove after catching the third strike to retire the side. Junior Randall Brooks shows the swing that earned him first- team All-BIG EAST honors with a .39b batting average. South I Regional team. Junior LP Mike Amrhein led the team in home runs with thirteen. Another strong performer at the plate was junior J.J. Brock who improved his batting average to .320, up from .238 the previous vear. DH Jeff Wagner was named BIG EAST Rookie of the Year. The freshman hit .287 with 10 home runs and 45 RBIs. junior Scott Sollman became the all-time school leader in stolen bases. The outfielder added 52 thefts during the season to bring his career total to 101 . Senior George Resto ich takes a cut in BIG EAST competi- tion. Restovich , along with classmate Rowan Richards, was named to the All-South 1 Regional team. 1 W SfU