HARRISON PUMMELS ND

Harrisburg (Ill.) High forced Notre Dame to swallow a dose of its own medicine Friday. And Notre Dame didn't like the way it tasted.

For the first time this season, Notre Dame was on the losing end of a blowout, a 10-1 victim of one of the best teams from the Land of Lincoln.

Harrisburg (19-3) punched out 17 hits and did what no other team has done in Notre Dame's last five games -- score more than one earned run.

As a result, the Harrisburg Bulldogs advanced to the semifinals of Cape Central's Big 8 tournament with a win over the team with the second-best record of the eight-team field. Notre Dame, which suffered two one-run losses earlier this season, is now 15-3 and can place no better than fifth. The first-round matchups were drawn out of a hat, Central coach Steve Williams said.

After the game, Notre Dame coach Chris Neff was more concerned with his players' psyche than their performance.

"We talked about finding out where we were as a team coming into this game," Neff said. "But maybe we'll find out more of what we're made of tomorrow. We can't hang our heads over this. We need to start hitting the ball."

Harrisburg, loaded with six starting left-handed batters, tagged right-handed starter Mark Ostendorf (5-2) for 12 hits in 2 2/3 innings. Neff said had he known earlier last week that they had so many left-handed hitters, he would've adjusted his rotation so he could start southpaw Brian Obermann.

Ostendorf struggled with his location and was hit hard at times, but didn't have the best of luck either. Several ground balls found their way to the outfield and he was the victim of two infield singles. Harrisburg sprayed 10 singles before getting an extra-base hit.

"Their pitcher had a good arm," Harrisburg coach Jay Thompson said. "He just had a little problem with his location today. We have a pretty good offensive team. We've been solid all year."

Harrisburg scored two in the first, three in the second and two more in the third off Ostendorf, then added one in the sixth and two in the seventh off lefty reliever Scott Eftink. Eftink, a sophomore, gave up five hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Notre Dame scored its run in the third after a triple by Josh Eftink and an RBI infield hit by John O'Rourke. Josh Eftink, now batting a team-high .440, was the only Notre Dame batter with two hits.

Of Harrisburg's 17 hits, only four went for extra bases. Harrisburg started the game with four consecutive singles, but Ostendorf escaped with two runs.

Scott Way got the win for Harrisburg, going the distance and allowing one unearned run on five hits and four walks. He fanned five.