BULLDOG PITCHERS CHEW UP JACKSON'S BATS

Notre Dame's ace battled like a Bulldog.

But he chewed through Jackson's lineup like an Obermann pincher.

Brian Obermann, a senior southpaw, reverted to last year's form Tuesday and allowed just one hit in four innings as Notre Dame (8-2) defeated Jackson (5-5) for the third time this season, 8-0, on a cold, windy day at Notre Dame High School.

Like he did the first time Notre Dame played Jackson, Obermann struggled with his control early. But unlike the last time when he gave up seven runs in two innings Notre Dame ultimately won 13-8 in 10 innings he eventually took command of the game.

After walking the first two batters he faced, Obermann allowed no hits until the fourth when Ricky Renfroe blooped a single down the left-field line. After the first two walks in the first inning, he faced just one over the minimum.

"That shows what he's made of right there," said Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett. "It looked just like the other Jackson game, but he settled down, took some deep breaths and went right at them. Once he settled in and got on, he had good command."

Because of the cold weather and wanting to save his ace for a game against South Pemiscot on Saturday, Obermann was removed in favor of Josh Eftink who continued where Obermann left off.

Eftink gave up a bloop double and a bunt single to complete a three-hitter.

Obermann ended up walking three and striking out four. Eftink struck out two, walked none and hit a batter.

Offensively, Notre Dame was masterful as well, banging out 12 hits and getting hits from eight of its nine starters.

"I'm very satisfied with our offense," said Graviett. "We hit well in practice all week. We had 12 hits and hit some balls hard right at people. This was the first time all year we've really swung well.

"Hitting the ball up the middle and taking it the other way was something we've been working hard on all last week. We've got some guys with some power who can take it out of the ballpark, but we needed to get back to hitting the ball to the right side. And I think you saw that today that we've been spending some time on it."

Wes Steele had a particularly good game at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a double and two runs batted in. Eftink was the only other player with more than one hit. He went 2-for-4 with a double, one RBI, two runs scored and two stolen bases.

The Bulldogs scored the only runs they would need in the first inning.

Tommy Wencewicz walked, was sacrificed to second and driven in on Eftink's double. Eftink later scored on an RBI single by Steele.

The Bulldogs plated another in the second on an error, one in the third on an RBI double by Steele and four in the sixth. Two runs in the sixth scored on double steals, one scored on an RBI single by Scott Reinagel and the final run came home on an RBI groundout by Matt Bollinger.

Jackson committed four errors on the day and three of Notre Dame's runs were unearned.

"We had more errors than hits," said Jackson coach Sam Sides. "That's not a good combination. We put the ball in play a lot, but we were taking defensive swings. They did a good job of hitting the ball to the right side. We tried to do the same thing, but we ended up popping it up where they hit line drives. They're a good hitting team.

"But really I thought we played better than we did the past three games. Our pitching was decent, we just have to score runs."

Josh Hopkins started for Jackson and was removed after the third inning after meeting his pitch count. Hopkins allowed four runs, three earned, on five hits and no walks. He struck out none. John Jackson pitched in relief.

The Indians left seven runners on base.

"We had chances where we had second and third a couple of times, we just couldn't get the big hit," said Sides. "If we could've got a hit here or there in those situations, we're right in the ballgame. But we're getting a lot of strikeouts in those situations and that's really hurting us."