Near Complete Game by Former ND Football Star

April 8, 2012

  Sunday afternoon former University of Notre Dame football star Jeff Samardzija took the mound at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. Samardzija who is third in the Chicago Cubs Rotation, was making his first start of the year and only the sixth start of his career and his first in nearly two years.

  Samardzija went into Easter Sunday with the tough task of preventing the Washington Nationals from completing a 3 game sweep of the Cubs. He would start the game off by giving up a lead off double to Nationals' short stop Ian Desmond but then Samardzija would follow by retiring the next 15 batters in a row with the help of some excellent defensive plays. Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos would break the streak by leading off the sixth inning with only the team's second hit of the game. Three hitters later Nationals second baseman Danny Espinosa would end Samardzija's shutout bid with a sacrifice fly that would score Ramos making the score 1-1. Samardzija would take a 3 hitter into the ninth inning with the Cubs leading 4-1. With two outs Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman hit a ground ball to Cubs short stop Starlin Castro who rushed the throw to first base resulting in an error that would extend the inning. The Nationals next hitter Adam LaRoche would drive a ball over the right field wall bringing the Nationals within one and ending Samardzija's excellent outing at 8.2 innings. Cubs closer Carlos Marmol would record his first save of the season two hitters later giving the Cubs a 4-3 win over the Nationals. Samardzija finished the game with 8 Ks and a 1.04 ERA.

  Jeff Samardzija, the Valparaiso, Indiana native, was a two sport athlete at the University of Notre Dame playing both football and baseball said that making the Chicago Cubs starting rotation this season was the highlight of his sports career. In 2006 Samardzija finished his senior football season at Notre Dame recording 78 catches for 1,017 yards and 12 touchdowns. In his time at Notre Dame he set two single-season records in both receiving yards and touchdown receptions and was a two time Fred Biletnikoff Award finalist in 2005 and 2006.