BULLDOGS WIN FOURTH STRAIGHT, FLOG MULES 19-1

The calendar says the district baseball playoffs don't begin for another two weeks. In the minds of the Notre Dame Bulldogs, playoff time is now.

On Monday, Notre Dame came out slugging and never let up against Poplar Bluff at Notre Dame Field, posting a 19-1 victory in a game shortened to five innings by the 10-run rule.

The loss continued a dismal season for Poplar Bluff as the Mules fell to 2-12.

Notre Dame, which improved to 15-4, has been on fire since suffering a 2-1 upset loss to Perryville last Wednesday. The Bulldogs are 4-0 since the loss, which includes winning the championship of the Big Eight Tournament this past weekend.

"In our postgame meeting after the Perryville loss, we talked about not waiting for the district playoffs to turn it on," said Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett. "We've got to turn it on now."

In two games against Notre Dame, Poplar Bluff has been overmatched. The Mules lost 7-0 in their previous confrontation and have been outscored 26-1 overall.

Notre Dame's 15-hit attack began with four consecutive hits after two were out in the bottom of the first inning. Josh Eftink, steady as always, singled sharply through the hole between third and short. Wes Steele, continuing his hot hitting, followed with a drive that bounced over the fence in left-centerfield for a ground-rule double, scoring Eftink. Tommy Wencewicz knocked in Steele with another base hit, then scored the third run of the inning when the next batter Scott Reinagel banged a double to right centerfield.

The Bulldogs failed to score in the second inning, but exploded for 10 runs in the third. The big blow being a three-run homer to left field by Steele.

Graviett cleared his bench in the fourth inning and the subs continued the onslaught, scoring six more runs in the inning.

Once again, Eftink and Steele led the Bulldog offense. Eftink went 3-for-3 while Steele knocked in four runs with a 3-for-4 performance.

Seldom used starting pitcher John O'Rourke matched his work load for the season by going the five-inning distance. The junior right-hander allowed four hits and took a shutout into the fifth inning before giving up a solo homer to Andrew Baker. Around the plate all day, O'Rourke walked none and struck out one.

"Our top three pitchers are seniors, so we wanted to get O'Rourke some work," Graviett said. "We'll be counting on him next year."

Notre Dame meets St. Vincent today in Perryville.