Home field sweet for Bulldogs

Batting about .400 for the season, Notre Dame's Matt Wulfers is a tough out anywhere.

But there's one field where the junior is especially problematic -- the one just outside his classrooms.

With Notre Dame playing just its third home game Tuesday and 10th of the season, Wulfers drove home that fact in the Bulldogs' 12-6 non-conference victory over Jackson.

Notre Dame improved to 7-3 on the season and a perfect 3-0 at home. Wulfers has been nearly as perfect as his team when at home.

On Tuesday he led a 10-hit Notre Dame attack by going 3-for-4 with a home run, a triple and four RBIs.

"I love hitting here, and I'm just starting to realize it this year," Wulfers said.

Wulfers, who throws right-handed but bats left-handed, cited a good hitting background and often favorable winds, which were howling on Tuesday, as features that make the diamond at Notre Dame a good place to dig in at the plate.

Also helping him come to that realization are some hefty numbers. He's been retired just three times in the three games, going a combined 7-for-10. Among the seven hits are four of his six home runs this season, along with a triple. He's knocked in 11 runs and drawn three walks.

Wulfers is halfway to the team's single-season home run record and a triple shy of the triples record.

"Matt's hit the ball well all year, minus one or two games," Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett said.

After Jackson grabbed its only lead of the day in the first inning with the help of two errant Notre Dame pickoff throws, Wulfers put the Bulldogs ahead for good with a two-run triple in the bottom of the inning.

It was part of a four-run inning for Notre Dame, which also scored four runs in the third and four more in the sixth.

Blake Urhahn opened the first with a walk, took second on a Lee Essner single, and Wulfers then drilled a Brandon Stearns delivery into the right-center field gap.

Jackson third baseman Brandon Gendron then made the defensive play of the game, driving to his right to stop a smash down the line by Kyle Diveley, scrambling to his feet and throwing out Wulfers at home for the first out of the inning. But Notre Dame later added two runs on a two-out double by Matt Smith, who went 2-for-3 with three RBIs.

It proved to be the kind of hit that eluded Jackson most of the day.

The Indians loaded the bases with one out in both the second and third innings but came away empty handed both times.

"If we're ever going to get over the hump, we need to cash in," said Jackson coach Sam Sides, who saw his team fall to 5-6.

Notre Dame starter Blake Urhahn struck out the first batter in the second inning before loading the bases on three walks. Graviett pulled the junior in favor of senior Wayne Essner.

Essner (1-0), who had just two innings in two appearances this season, struck out the Indians' top two batters in the lineup to end the threat.

"He got those two outs, that was huge," Wulfers said.

Essner made his own mess in the third, loading the bases on a hit batter, a walk and a single, but he escaped damage by getting Gendron to ground into a double play.

He pitched the remainder of the game, allowing five hits, striking out six and walking four.

"That was a big confidence builder," Essner said of his outing.

With Jackson smarting from its second bases-loaded opportunity gone awry, Wulfers led off the bottom of the third inning with a wind-aided home run to right-center field.

"I got a lot of help," Wulfers said, smiling. "I just hit that one off the handle."

The Bulldogs chased Stearns in the inning, which featured three more hits, including a perfectly executed suicide squeeze bunt by Smith for the second run of the inning. Runs also scored on a bases-loaded walk to Essner and an RBI single by Urhahn for an 8-1 lead.

Jackson combined three hits and three walks in the fifth inning to close the gap to 8-5. Trevor Thompson and Tim Stearns had RBI hits in the inning, but the Indians again left the bases loaded.

Notre Dame extended the lead to 12-5 in the sixth with four runs, three which were unearned. A dropped fly ball in center field opened the inning, and the Bulldogs compounded the error with three hits, including a two-run double by Andy Ralls.

Jackson is in the midst of a difficult week, having suffered a 13-0 loss to North County on Monday.

"Yesterday we got outclassed," Sides said. "Today we stunk it up."

The road doesn't get any easier for the Indians with a trip to state-ranked Sikeston on Thursday.

"We better get better quick or we're going to get hammered," Sides said.

Jason Meystedt went 2-for-3 for Jackson, which had seven hits.