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FINAL: Notre Dame 2, Ohio 1 -- Notre Dame, Ind. (Frank Eck Stadium)

OHIO STARTERS: Manny De Jesus (CF), Rudy Rott (1B), Mitch Longo (LF), John Adryan (3B), Cody Gaertner (C), Spencer Ibarra (RF), Ty Black (SS), Michael Klein (DH), Conner Callery (2B), Jake Miller (P)

NOTRE DAME STARTERS: Cavan Biggio (2B), Jake Shepski (LF), Ricky Sanchez (DH), Matt Vierling (RF), Lane Richards (SS), Nick Podkul (1B), Kyle Fiala (3B), Kyle Richardson (CF), Ryan Lidge (C), Peter Solomon (P)

THE BASICS
The Ohio baseball team (17-23) was edged by host Notre Dame (25-16), 2-1, on Friday (April 29) in the opening game of a three-game weekend series at Frank Eck Stadium in Notre Dame, Ind.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Bobcats lost despite outhitting the Fighting Irish, 9-8.
• Senior center fielder Manny De Jesus (Caguas, Puerto Rico) tallied a game-high three singles and drew a walk and scored a run to lead Ohio's offense.
• Redshirt senior catcher Cody Gaertner (Pittsburgh, Pa.) went 2-for-4 and drove in the Bobcats' lone run.
• Junior left fielder Mitch Longo (Mayfield, Ohio) finished 2-for-3 with a walk.
• Senior right-handed starting pitcher Jake Miller (Westerville, Ohio) threw five solid innings for Ohio, fanning two while giving up one unearned run on five hits.
• Junior righty Tom Colletti (Wheaton, Ill.) suffered the pitching defeat out of the bullpen for the Bobcats, falling to 3-3 on the season. He gave up one earned run on three hits and a walk over three innings of work. He struck out one.
• Freshman right fielder Matt Vierling went 2-for-4 and drove in the winning run for Notre Dame.
• Sophomore right-handed starting pitcher Peter Solomon struck out 10 over six innings for the Fighting Irish. He allowed one earned run on six hits and four walks.
• Sophomore right-handed reliever Brandon Bielak earned the win on the mound for Notre Dame, improving to 3-1 on the year. He fanned two while giving up three hits in three innings of work out of the bullpen.
• Notre Dame plated the game's first run in the second inning. Junior third baseman Kyle Fiala was hit by a pitch with one out, advanced to second on a passed ball and to third on a ground out back to the mound by senior center fielder Kyle Richardson and then scored on a base hit to right by junior catcher Ryan Lidge.
• The Bobcats knotted the score at one-all in the ensuing frame. De Jesus sent a leadoff single to center and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After back-to-back walks by freshman first baseman Rudy Rott (Holmen, Wis.) and Longo, De Jesus scored one out later on a single to center by Gaertner.
• After Ohio stranded two runners in the top of the seventh, the Fighting Irish broke through again in the home half for the winning run in the pitcher's duel. Junior second baseman Cavan Biggio drew a one-out walk, then moved up to second one out later on a single to right center by senior designated hitter Ricky Sanchez. That set the stage for Vierling's RBI single to left center that drove in Biggio.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
• De Jesus notched his 14th multi-hit effort of the year -- including his fourth with at least three hits.
• Longo recorded his team-high 19th multi-hit performance of the season.
• Gaertner tallied his 14th multi-hit game of the year.

UP NEXT
Ohio will attempt to even the series with Notre Dame on Saturday (April 30). First pitch is now scheduled for 12:05 p.m. ET. The game's start time had been moved up 4:05 p.m. ET on Friday afternoon after originally being scheduled for 2:05 p.m. ET. Junior righty Jake Rudnicki (Toledo, Ohio) is scheduled to start on the hill for the Bobcats and oppose sophomore southpaw Sean Guenther of the Fighting Irish.

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