Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Notre Dame
Baseball Team Upsets No. 21 Notre Dame, 9-4
5/2/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 2, 2000
EVANSTON, Ill. - Playing its final nonconference road game of 2000, the Northwestern University baseball team pounded out 18 hits and got a complete-game performance from Zach Schara (Madison, Wis./West) in defeating 21st-ranked Notre Dame, 9-4, at Frank Eck Stadium in South Bend, Ind.
The win snapped a three-game losing skein for the Wildcats and raised their record to 25-22. The Fighting Irish dropped to 36-12. The victory was also Northwestern's third straight over Notre Dame dating back to 1997, and marked the second straight time the Wildcats put 18 hits on the board against the Fighting Irish.
Northwestern wasted no time staking Schara a lead, as the first four batters roped singles to score two runs then plated another on a sacrifice fly by Pat Thompson (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville). In the third inning, NU put two more runs on the board when Bob Dainton (Mokena, Ill./Lockport) doubled home J.P. Williamson (Oak Park, Ill./River Forest) and Joe Hietpas (Appleton, Wis./North) followed with an RBI single to score Dainton.
Notre Dame got to Schara in the bottom of the third, scoring a pair of runs aided by a trio of two-out singles. However, with two runners on, Schara induced the Irish's Matt Nussbaum to ground out and kill the rally.
Northwestern immediately got the five-run advantage back, scoring twice again in the top of the fourth. With two outs and two on, Williamson singled to load the bases, then Dainton singled through the right side to score Brandon Ackley (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) and Jeremy Kurella (Dunedin, Fla./Dunedin).
Schara ran into hard luck in the fifth, allowing two unearned runs after Jeff Perconte led off Notre Dame's inning with a grounder that was mishandled by the Wildcats' Frank Favia (Barrington, Ill./Barrington). Northwestern narrowly escaped the inning unharmed, but Jeff Felker barely beat Williamson's throw to first on a potential inning-ending double play and two runs scored on the play.
Schara settled down after that, though, holding the Fighting Irish to just two hits the rest of the way. After a four-game losing streak, the sophomore righty has now won four decisions in a row.
Northwestern closed out the scoring with two runs in the eighth inning. Favia led off with a single, then advanced to third on a single by Ackley and scored on a sacrifice fly by J.J. Standring (Chicago, Ill./St. Rita). After Ackley was caught stealing, Eric Roeder (Onsted, Mich./Onsted) singled, stole second and scored on a single by Kurella.
It was another productive night at the top of the lineup for Northwestern, as the top four hitters combined for 12 of NU's 18 hits. Dainton had four hits, giving him 201 for his career and making him the fourth player to achieve the milestone this year. He also knocked in three runs and scored twice. Hietpas and Williamson added three hits apiece, while Kurella anchored the offense at the top of the lineup with a pair of hits and four stolen bases to run his Big Ten-leading and NU single-season record total to 36.
Northwestern is at Purdue this weekend for a critical Big Ten series. Due to Purdue's final exam schedule this week, the four-game set between the Wildcats and the Boilermakers will begin with a single game Saturday, a doubleheader Sunday, and another single game on Monday. All contests will begin at 1 p.m.
