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The Fighting Irish could have walked home today, but decided that they want to stay. Beating Rutgers 9-0, Notre Dame stays alive the Big East Baseball Tournament.

Notre Dame (30-27), which dropped its opening game of the Championship on Wednesday, remains alive in the double-elimination bracket to face either Seton Hall or St. John’s Friday at 3 pm ET Rutgers (31-25) was eliminated following its second loss of the tournament.

Senior pitcher Will Hudgins gave Notre Dame seven shutout innings and improved his record to 5-3.

CF Charlie Markson went 4-5 with 2 RBIs and 4 runs scored. Adding to Notre Dame’s offensive success was 1B Trey Mancini, who went 2-4 with 1 RBI, 2 runs scored, and 1 walk. The Irish totaled 14 hits with 1 hit coming from 7 different players.

Markson’s solo home run in the top of the 1st was the only run Notre Dame really needed, but the Irish added 2 more in the top of the 3rd on an RBI double to leftfield by Joe Hudson and Alex Robinson’s fielder’s choice that brought in Trey Mancini and put the Irish up 3-0 before you knew it.

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Week One- vs Navy — win (31-14)

Sept. 3, 2011; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish wide receiver Michael Floyd (3) celebrates with tight end Tyler Eifert (80) after a touchdown against the South Florida Bulls in the third quarter at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-US PRESSWIRE

Week Two- vs Purdue — win (24-20)

Week Three- at Michigan State — win (26-20 OT)

Week Four- vs Michigan — loss (24-34)

Week Five- vs Miami — win (27-23)

Week Six- vs Stanford — win (24-14)

Week Seven- vs BYU — loss (20-28)

Week Eight- at Oklahoma — loss (13-27)

Week Nine- vs Pittsburgh — win (14-10)

Week Ten- at Boston College — win (38-24)

Week Eleven- vs Wake Forest — win (30-20)

Week Twelve- at USC — loss (24-42)

Overall record — 8 Wins and 4 losses

This record would be a huge success for Notre Dame. They easily have the toughest schedule in the entire country and with quarterback controversy, you never know what could happen (good or bad), I think this would be a giant step in the right direction for ND. Some of the games I predicted could go either way, but 8-4 is a record that is not only manageable, but very good based on the strength of schedule.

offensive and defense players to watch are on the next page

Oct 29, 2011; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish wide receiver Michael Floyd (3) is tackled by Navy Midshipmen safety Parrish Gaines (24) at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-US PRESSWIRE

Notre Dame was placed in ESPN College Football Live’s Top 25 Preseason Poll a few weeks ago at number 24. However, that has since changed.

In the latest poll on ESPN, Notre Dame has been dropped out of the top 25. How can this happen if they haven’t even stepped on the field since mid-April?

Before I answer that question, lets look at who replaced Notre Dame.

1. LSU
2. USC
3. Alabama
4. Oregon
5. Georgia
6. Oklahoma
7. Florida State
8. West Virginia
9. Michigan
10. South Carolina
11. Michigan State
12. Stanford
13. Arkansas
14. TCU
15. Wisconsin
16. Clemson
17. Ohio State
18. Kansas State
19. Texas
20. Florida
21. Washington
22. Oklahoma State
23. Virginia Tech
24. Nebraska
25. Georgia Tech

Boise State and Notre Dame were replaced by Washington and Georgia Tech. Although it doesn’t really matter where ND is right now in the polls because it is still May, here’s why I think they were where pushed off the list.