Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/542018
ND SPORTS BY JORDAN WELLS T he second-seeded Notre Dame base- ball team opened the Champaign (Ill.) Regional with a 13-7 win over third-seeded Wright State May 29, but its bats grew cold en route to being eliminated from the NCAA Tourna- ment with losses to top-seeded Illinois (3-0) and Wright State (4-0) May 31. "Difficult day to lose two," Irish head coach Mik Aoki said after the setbacks ended a Cinderella season. "I felt like we had a really good chance to get into the winner 's bracket today with the way things were lining up. But it wasn't meant to be. "I thought [freshman] Brandon Bielak pitched very well. I thought [freshman] Brad Bass pitched very well. They just made a few more plays, a few more swings of the bat. College baseball sea- son comes to an end in an awfully big hurry. This one came to an end in an awfully big hurry today. "I'm proud of our guys, proud of our team. Probably my biggest disappoint- ment is the fact that I'm not going to be able to wake up tomorrow and have an opportunity to continue coaching these kids." Notre Dame had a chance to take an early lead versus the Illini, with the bases loaded in the first inning and only one out. However, senior outfielder Robert Youngdahl struck out and ju- nior shortstop Lane Richards flied out to strand the three base runners. The Irish left on eight runners total in the contest. Notre Dame then managed only five hits in the elimination game against Wright State, with a runner advancing to third base only once during the con- test. Despite the regional exit, there was much to celebrate from the team's sea- son. The Irish made huge strides, im- proving from a 22-31 record in 2014 to 37-23 in 2015. Notre Dame won six ACC series this year, including sweeps over then-No. 7 Florida State and then-No. 20 North Carolina. Many of the top contributors are also expected to return next year. Of the seven players that appeared in 50 or more games for Notre Dame this season, only first baseman/outfielder Ryan Bull and third-team All-ACC honoree Youngdahl exhaust their eli- gibility. The Irish will retain their three top players in on-base percentage — soph- omore second baseman Cavan Biggio (.406), sophomore catcher Ryan Lidge (.402) and sophomore third baseman Kyle Fiala (.394) — and the top three starters by ERA — sophomore right- hander Ryan Smoyer (2.27), sophomore left-hander Scott Tully (3.17) and the rookie right-hander Bielak (3.55). "We'll all go out and play [this sum- mer] and have little things that we want to improve on," Fiala said. "When we get back in the fall, I think the biggest thing with Cav [Biggio] and I and all the guys is we'll welcome these new guys into this team, and we'll immediately get after it." Baseball Falls In NCAA Regionals