(Notre Dame, IN) Since Notre Dame now trails West Virginia 11-2, I thought I would take a look back at a few of the more memorable baseball series that have taken place here at Notre Dame on the same weekend as the Blue-Gold football scrimmage.
Easily the most memorable baseball match-up during a Blue-Gold weekend came in 2002, when former ND head coach, Pat Murphy, brought his Arizona State Sun Devils to town. It was the first time a former Irish head coach of ANY sport returned to coach against Notre Dame.
The atmosphere at Frank Eck Stadium was electric, with members of the Irish marching band in attendance playing the Notre Dame fight song and other tunes between innings. Several rowdy Irish hockey players were also there to cheer J.P. Gagne, who picked-up the win in relief (Gagne was himself a high school hockey player in Minnesota).
Paul Mainieri's Irish won the game 9-4. The ASU line-up featured three players who are currently in the Major Leagues: Reigning AL MVP Dustin Pedroia (Red Sox) was the Sun Devils' starting shortstop, Andre Ethier (LA Dodgers) started in right field and Jeff Larish (Tigers) started at third base. The trio combined to go 1 for 9 with 2 RBIs (both RBIs by Larish).
That '02 Irish team would go on to the school's first College World Series appearance since 1957. While that ND team had several players who were drafted by MLB clubs, none advanced past the AAA level.
A then Eck Stadium record crowd of 2,900 saw the game. The second and only other scheduled game of the series was canceled by rain.
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