Oct. 12, 2009

EVANSTON, Ill. - A trio of former Northwestern baseball standouts are experiencing personal and team success through the Divisional Series round of the Major League Baseball playoffs.

New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who played at NU from 1983-86, saw his squad earn a three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins in opening round action. The Yankees are set to face the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the ALCS. Girardi is in his second year as the manager in the Bronx and guided the Yanks to a Major League-best 103-59 regular season record.

In Philadelphia, three-time first-team All-Big Ten selection J.A. Happ (2002-04) made appearances on the mound in two of the Phillies' first three games. After appearing in relief in the second game, the left-hander got the start on the bump in Game 3. He worked the first three innings of Sunday night's contest at Colorado, striking out four while allowing three runs and leaving the contest with the lead. Philadelphia enters Monday's Game 4 with a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series.

Happ is considered a front-runner for the National League Rookie of the Year after finishing the regular season with a 12-4 record and a dazzling 2.93 ERA.

On the West Coast, Mark Loretta (1990-93) was the hero for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday in their series-clinching sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals. With the winning run on third base and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Loretta lined a basehit into left-center to give the Dodgers the 3-2 walk-off win.

A California native, Loretta is in his first season playing for the Dodgers and his 15th MLB season overall. He has also played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox and has twice been named an All-Star.