If you haven't noticed recently, we've added coverage of Notre Dame baseball and hockey.  Josh is one of the more rabid hockey fans we know and we are glad he is on board covering arguably the best program on campus.  Tom will be writing a weekly recap about Irish baseball and this is his first article while we set him up with an account.  Tom is from Omaha and loves his college baseball and formerly followed the baseball team for The Observer a few years back.  A warm welcome to both Josh and Tom...

It’s typically difficult for northern teams to get out of the gate fast. Fortunately for the Irish, they’ve played northern teams so far. Notre Dame sits at 3-3 after finishing 2-1 in the Big Ten-Big East challenge, with wins against Illinois and Purdue and a loss to Ohio State, and after finishing 1-2 in the Phoenix Classic, with a win against Dayton and losses against Gonzaga and Creighton.

This weekend provides another opportunity for the Irish to get some early-season quality wins when they head to Houston for the Rice Classic. There, Notre Dame will face a formidable schedule in Oral Roberts (a solid tournament team from a year ago), #5 Rice (a College World Series qualifier last year), and Washington State (an improving team in the ever-tough Pac 10 Conference).

Last June, Oral Roberts (5-1) ended the season with a school-record 48 wins. The Golden Eagles were eliminated from the Nebraska regional by highly-ranked UC-Irvine a day after eliminating the host Cornhuskers.

Since 1997, Rice’s first trip to the College World Series, the Owls (6-3) have developed into a national power, qualifying for the CWS seven times and winning the 2003 national title. This year the Owls’ pitching staff, as usual, is exceptional.

The Cougars are 3-5 but have played a challenging schedule so far, including a four-game series split against #16 Oklahoma. Washington State was also swept by #22 Arkansas in a close and hard-fought series.  While Notre Dame lost to Gonzaga in Phoenix 7-3, Washington State defeated the Zags 8-4.

Last season, Notre Dame finished on a sour note (33-21-1), losing its last eight games, including two in the Big East tournament. The Irish began the Big East campaign 12-3 and were tied for first place before a late-season collapse in which they dropped seven out of the last 11 Big East games. From last season’s young squad, the Irish return 18 monogram winners and six starters. Coach Dave Schrage is in his third season at the helm, and after several highly-touted recruiting classes in-a-row, Schrage looks to have his Irish in line for a run at the Big East championship and a return to the NCAA tournament.

At the Rice Classic this weekend, the rotation should be sophomore righty Brian Dupra (Friday), junior righty Eric Maust (Saturday), and sophomore righty Evan Danieli (Sunday). At the plate, the Irish are led by sophomore third baseman Mick Doyle (.438), sophomore shortstop Greg Sherry (.438), and sophomore outfielder Golden Tate (.385). As a team, Notre Dame is batting .327, while holding its opponents to a .267 average.