March 5, 2008

COCOA, Fla. - Notre Dame picked up a pair of wins in three games in Cocoa, Fla. as part of the team's spring break trip last weekend. The Falcons defeated Lyndon State College (VT) and Point Park University (PA) Thursday and Friday (Feb. 28-29) before dropping the finale of the trip to West Virginia Tech on Saturday (Mar. 1). All three games were neutral-site affairs in the spring site which hosts a number of northern teams throughout Feb. and Mar.

The Falcons two wins came in taut, one-run games that went down to the last at-bat. Thursday's win came in an 11-inning tilt that featured a three-inning, three-strikeout appearance by junior right fielder Eric Pelot (Lakewood, OH) and a game-winning hit by junior Joe Young (Pittsburgh, PA).

Notre Dame (3-4) got strong pitching performances in both of their wins. Neither Ken Fields (Sr/North Olmsted, OH) nor Chris Balmert (Sr/Lakewood, OH) yielded an earned run in their respective starts in the two victories.

Senior second baseman Dustin Taulbee (Elyria, OH) led the NDC attack offensively. The Elyria High School product reached base five times in 12 plate appearances and collected two steals. Taulbee went 3-for-6 in the Fla. opener Thursday, and in doing so, became the first player in program history to reach 100 hits. The NDC middle infielder has been with the program since its inception in 2005.

As a team, the Blue & Gold were held to a combined five hits over the final two games in Cocoa.

NOTES FROM THE NEST...

MR. 100: Taulbee's 100 hits in his career have broken down thusly - 74 singles, 21 doubles, three home runs, and two triples. Taulbee is the program's current leader in total bases (134), hits, doubles, runs scored (70), walks (43), and games played (115). Through seven games this season, NDC's second sacker is batting .360/.407/.480 (BA/OBP/SLG), with three doubles and three stolen bases.

ARMED AND DANGEROUS: While NDC has given up its fair share of unearned runs so far this season (14 in seven games), Falcon pitching is putting up numbers that are much improved from a year ago. Notre Dame sports a staff ERA of 3.83, compared to 6.00 in 2007. ... Newcomer Ken Fields sports a 0.69 ERA in his two starts (13-1/3 IP). Opposing nines are batting just .188 off the righthander from North Olmsted.

A FIRST FOR NINE: Junior slugger Eric Pelot (number nine) made his first pitching appearance in an NDC uniform Thursday. Pelot, who earned First Team All-AMC North honors a year ago as a hard-hitting right fielder, came on in relief against Lyndon State to pitch three solid innings. Last season, the Lakewood High school product batted .390 with five home runs and 38 RBIs.