Pro baseball: Connaughton makes professional debut

Notre Dame basketball swingman and former right-handed pitcher Pat Connaughton made his professional baseball debut Tuesday for the Aberdeen (Md.) IronBirds, the short season Class-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles.

A fourth-round draft pick in last month’s amateur draft, Connaughton started and worked one scoreless and hitless inning against the Staten Island (N.Y.) Yankees at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen. The game report on Aberdeen’s web site indicated that Connaughton’s fastball topped out at 96 mph.

The IronBirds won, 5-4.

Connaughton will spend the rest of the month with Aberdeen before returning to Notre Dame for his senior year with the Irish men’s basketball team.