![]() ![]() battingaverage (.236) and eighth in wins (8-5) …was one of only six pitchers in the nationwho entered 07 postseason with an ERAunder 2.00, eight or more wins and 90-plusstrikeouts … in 07 regular-season BIG EASTgames, he finished second in ERA (2.14, trailingonly Seton Halls Keith Cantwell) plusfirst in strikeouts (67) and innings (71.1), secondin Ks looking (26) and pickoffs (4), thirdin wins (5-3) and 10th in lowest opp. Louis) as recentMissouri natives to monogram with a NotreDame baseball program that includes 14 alltimemonogram winners from the show-mestate … could face his former teammate JoeErcalano when the Irish play Lehigh in 08season.ĪS A SOPHOMORE: Bounced backfrom rocky freshman season by turning inone of the best seasons ever by a NotreDame pitcher in 2007 … named first team all-BIG EAST Conference while becoming thesecond Notre Dame pitcher ever to post 100-plus strikeouts (102) and an ERA under 2.00during the same season (1.88) … also earnedCoSIDA Academic All-District honors andadvanced to the Academic All-America ballot,after carrying a 3.36 cumulative GPA intothe 2007 season … joined former All-Americans Aaron Heilman (in 99) and ChrisNiesel (in 03) as youngest Notre Dame pitchersever named to BIG EASTs top team (eachearned the honor as sophomores) …Heilman is the only other Notre Damepitcher ever to reach 100 Ks while also havinga sub-2.00 ERA in the same season (111Ks, 1.74 ERA as a senior in 2001) … enteredthe final month of the 07 season up forpitcher-of-the-year honors, with Louisvillejunior Zack Pitts ultimately taking home thataward … finished 07 season as league leaderin overall ERA (1.87 14th in the nation) andstrikeouts (102 sixth in ND history) whileranking third among BIG EAST pitchers with110.1 innings, seventh in lowest opp. ![]() Returning staff ace who fashioned a breakthroughseason in 2007, when he became thesecond Notre Dame pitcher ever to post 100-plus strikeouts (102) and register an ERAunder 2.00 (1.88) in the same season (currentbig-leaguer Aaron Heilman is the other)… named to the 2008 preseason watch listfor the Brooks Wallace national Player of theYear award … also picked to repeat as a firstteam all-BIG EAST performer in 08 …entered his sophomore season with buddingconfidence, after a strong 2006 fall seasonthat saw him make steady progress whileworking with Irish pitching coach SherardClinkscales … his key strides from his freshmanto sophomore season included consistentlyfinishing off batters with his low-90sfastball and a breaking ball and change-upthat both were fine tuned for efficiency …bring a bulldog mentality to the mound inevery appearance … one of the hardestthrowers on the team who can spot hisexplosive fastball with movement onboth sides of the plate … could emergeas an Academic All-America candidate,due to his 3.24 cumulative grade-pointaverage that includes an impressive 3.50in-season GPA during the 2006 springsemester … was slated to pitch alongsidethree classmates and fellow pitchers(Kyle Weiland, Sam Elam and BrettGraffy) during the summer of 2007, withthe Cape Cod Leagues FalmouthCommodores … ultimately opted to resthis arm during the summer of 07, aftermaking a pair of starts with Falmouth(7.27, 8.2 IP, 21 H, 5 BB, 5 Ks) … playedfor the Alaska Leagues Mat-Su Miners inthe summer of 06, going 3-2 in sevenstarts, with a 3.02 ERA and 36 strikeoutsin 47.2 innings (23 walks, 32 hitsallowed/1 home run, 3 hit batters, 2 wildpitches, a pair of complete games, ashutout and a save) … has drawn game-1 starts in each of the past three Blue-Gold Series (fall intrasquad), withno-decisions in the first two games anda loss in 07 (his career BGS stats includea 4.85 ERA, 13.0 IP, 12 R/8 ER, 13 H, 7 BB, 9 Ks)… lost game-1 in 07 BGS, for Gold team thatwent on to win series (4.2 IP, 5 R/2 ER, 5 H, 2BB, HB, 2 Ks 1-8) …had strong outing in 06with Blue (5 IP, R, 3 H, BB, HB, 5 Ks) but Goldwon that 2-1 pitchers duel and went on towin the series … also started BGS opener in05 (3.1 IP, 6 R/5 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 2 Ks, HB, WP),with his Blue teammates rallying for 7-6 winand later taking the series … his olderbrother Mike Phelps pitches in the ChicagoCubs organization … joins former 1B/LHPJoe Thaman (04 St. ![]()
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