Notre Dame Reverses Trend, Wins in a Jay Walk, 6-3

One team had scored 50 runs in its previous 4 games. The other had given up nearly that many in its first 4 games and had yet to allow fewer than 10 runs against anyone.

So when Chaminade, the team on a 50-run roll, met Notre Dame, the team with a new and admittedly self-destructive 10-run rule, who won?

Improbably, Notre Dame, the team that had previously allowed 47 runs. The Knights won, 6-3, with the unlikeliest of combinations--defense and pitching--in a nonleague game Tuesday at Notre Dame.

A pair of Notre Dame pitchers combined to throw a 2-hitter, which had Chaminade Coach Steve Costley muttering about the vagaries and value of statistics. The Eagles had won 4 consecutive games and had 62 hits in 6 games.

“Sometimes in baseball,” Costley said, “you’re hitting the ball one day, and then the next day, you’re not hitting anything.”

The Eagles (4-3) were unable to hit much of anything against Notre Dame starter Bill Jay, who picked up his first win of the year after striking out 4 batters and allowing just 1 hit, 1 walk and 1 run in 4 innings.

“I was really pleased with my control,” said Jay, a senior right-hander. “Our pitching has been giving up way too many walks and we didn’t do that today. That was good because that’s what we needed.”

Notre Dame (2-3) began a 10-hit attack from the outset when designated hitter Kevin Crosby led off the game with a single to left off Chaminade starter Chris De Christo (0-2).

Crosby moved to third on a double to right by teammate Chad Ratliff, who was 3 for 4, including his first home run of the season. De Christo wild-pitched Crosby home and Ratliff, who moved to third, gave Notre Dame a 2-0 lead by scoring on a sacrifice fly to center by Kevin Milligan.

The Knights took a 3-0 lead in the second inning when Chris Lohman scored from third on a wild pick-off attempt to first by De Christo. The Knights scored 2 more runs in the third on Ratliff’s solo homer and Jeff Antoon’s RBI double, which scored Matt McElreath from first base.

In the fifth, McElreath, who was 2 for 2, singled home Ratliff for Notre Dame’s last run. Ratliff had singled and moved to third on 2 wild pitches by De Christo.

Chaminade got a run in the third on Doug Marconet’s RBI single that scored Dave Morrison. The Eagles took advantage of 1 hit, 2 walks and an error in the sixth innning to pull to within 6-3.

But that was as close as the Eagles could get, as Notre Dame relief pitcher Rob Kostenader retired the side in order in the seventh.