Matt Nussbaum Class: Senior Hometown: South Bend, Indiana High School: St. Joseph's Height / Weight: 6-2 / 200 Position: Leftfield/Catcher Birthdate: 05/03/1978 Bats: Right

Local product who burst onto scene as a junior ... will open season as likely starter in left field while also seeing time as DH and backup catcher ... team tri-captain, alongside senior second baseman Jeff Perconte and junior righthander Aaron Heilman ... an aggressive hitter who rarely gets cheated at the plate ... combines good hand-eye coordination with strong concentration and improved strength, resulting in a high percentage of putting the ball in play ... one of his most noticeable improvements in his career has been a bulked-up physique ... ... likely will hit in the No. 5-7 spots ... earned his chance as a starter early in ’99 and never left the lineup ... hitless in 16 at-bats in his first two seasons before opening ’99 with five hits (two home runs) in first 16 ABs ... first earned his chances in ’99 because the Irish were facing several lefthanded starters ... has shown steady improvement in his outfield defense ... focused more on his role as a catcher in ‘99 summer and fall ball ... has good hands, a strong arm and a good working relationship with the veteran Irish pitchers ... first earned a spot as a walk-on in fall of ’96 ... his father Richard Nussbaum played for the Notre Dame baseball team in the 1960s ... a two-time Dean’s List student, with a 3.28 cumulative GPA ... recent Notre Dame players who have worn No. 3 include second baseman Greg Layson (’91-’94) and catcher Bob Lisanti (’92-’94, ’96) ... played in summer of ‘99 with the local St. Joseph’s ACs, batting .423 with nine home runs.

AS A JUNIOR: Appeared in 59 of 61 games (fourth on team), making 57 starts at mostly left field (37) and DH (18), plus two at first base ... most of his starts included batting fifth in the lineup (33 games), with other starts in the sixth (10), seventh (9), third (3), eighth (1) and ninth (1) spots ... hit .314 in 204 ABs (sixth on team among players with 100-plus ABs) ... ranked fifth on team in RBI (33), sixth in home runs (5) ... scored 37 runs, with 10 doubles and one triple ... struck out 13 times, for team-best 15.7 plate appearances per K ... totaled 15 walks, two hit-by-pitch, four sacrifice flies and two sacrifice bunts ... 0-for-3 on stolen base attempts ... made seven errors on 65 fielding chances (.892) ... his make-contact style led to a team-high 11 double-play groundouts ... third on team with .346 batting vs. lefthanders ... his .371 batting with two outs trailed only Brant Ust’s .372 on Irish squad ... advanced team-best 35 runners, ranking second in pct. of runners advanced (.603) ... hit .299 with runners in scoring position ... reached on 44.2 pct. of his leadoff appearances ... hit .239 in BIG EAST regular season (21-for-88) and a team-best .371 (43-for-116) vs. non-BIG EAST teams ... led Irish with .373 batting over final 20 games (28-for-75) ... hit .356 at Eck Stadium ... totaled 17 multi-hit games (fifth on team), six multi-RBI games ... hit 2-for-4 in first career start (14-1 loss at Florida International) ... sparked Irish to 14-11 win at New Orleans (2 HR, BB, 3 R) ... hit RBI single in 5-3 win over Creighton, in title game of Irish Baseball Classic (in San Antonio) ... had two RBI to help finish sweep at West Virginia (6-4) ... hit solo home run to help beat UConn (11-7), following a two-run blast from Jeff Wagner and Jeff Felker’s solo shot (Perconte homered two batters later, giving the Irish four HRs in five ABs) ... went 3-for-4 in 14-10 win over Bowling Green (HR, 2 R) ... pieced together 14-game hitting streak from April 18-May 9 (third-longest by an Irish player in ’99) ... hit 7-for-10 in Seton Hall series, (3-for-4, 4 RBI, 4 R, 2B, HBP in 17-8 finale) ... had strong series in sweep of Oakland (8-for-12, 6 RBI, 3 R, HR, 3B, 3 2B) ... kept streak alive with hits (and runs scored) in each of three wins at Georgetown ... made memorable defensive play in 1-0 win over eventual national champ Miami, with a sliding catch near the leftfield line on dipping fly ball off the bat of Bobby Hill (that was the second out in the ninth, with the next batter ending the Irish no-hit bid) ... had two singles and scored in BIG EAST Tourney win over West Virginia (7-2) ... closed season with hits in each NCAA tournament game (6-for-12) ... had a single, RBI double and run in 8-1 win over Creighton, an RBI single in 6-3 loss to Cal State Fullerton and three singles and a walk in 11-5 loss to Michigan.

AS A SOPHOMORE & FRESHMAN: Appeared in 11 games as a pinch-hitter and reserve fielder in ‘98 (0-for-14, 3 K) ... scored as a pinch-runner in 7-2 loss to Indiana Tech ... made one error in three chances ... appeared in six games in ‘97 (0-for-2, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 1 K) ... drew a walk versus Chicago State ... pitched an inning in 12-3 loss to Northwestern (1 R, 3 H, 1 BB)

PREP AND PERSONAL: A second baseman and tennis player at nearby St. Joseph’s High School ... led baseball team to conference and sectional titles as a junior ... captained baseball and tennis teams as a senior ... played No. 1 doubles for three conference champion teams ... honorable mention all-state in tennis as a senior ... father Richard graduated from Notre Dame in ’74 and played baseball for the Irish ... grandfather Richard Nussbaum, Sr., played football at John’s Hopkins ... born May 3, 1978, in South Bend, Ind. ... son of Richard and Mary Pat Nussbaum ... full name is Matthew Richard Nussbaum ... a government major in the College of Arts and Letters.

Nussbaum's Career Bests

Year	GP/GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	HP	SO	SF/SH	SB-SBA	OB	SLG	AVG
1997	6/0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	0/0	0-0	.500	.000	.000
1998	11/1	14	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0/0	0-0	.000	.000	.000
1999	59/57	204	37	64	10	1	5	33	15	2	13	4/2	0-3	.360	.446	.314
Totals	76/58	220	38	64	10	1	5	33	16	3	17	4/2	0-3	.342	.414	.291

Career Bests

Hits
3, six times during 1999 season

Runs Scored
4, vs. Seton Hall (4/25/99)

RBI
4, vs. Seton Hall (4/25/99)

Home Runs
2, at New Orleans (2/27/99)

Doubles
2, vs. Oakland, gm 1 (5/1/99)

Total Bases
8 (2 HR), at UNO (2/27/99)

Walks
3, vs. Dallas (3/8/99)

Hitting Streak
14 games (April 18-May 9, 1999)