Category: NCAA Baseball

Notre Dame Baseball SP Sheehan Honored by ACC in Weekly Awards

Notre Dame SP Tommy Sheehan named ACC Pitcher of the Week.

The Fighting Irish went into Birmingham and took two of three from the Blazers, winning Coach Link Jarrett’s first series as manager for Notre Dame. Jarrett must be beaming after returning the South Bend as yesterday the ACC named their players of the week and SP Tommy Sheehan was named conference pitcher of the week.

Sheehan was magnificent in his start against UAB, going 7 strong innings allowing just one hit and walking a batter. Sheehan struck out a career high 9 batters en route to the 4-2 victory. His efforts helped the Irish get the season off to a good start, their first opening day win since the 2016 season.

Having an ace start series off is a huge advantage for Jarrett’s team, setting up the bullpen for later in the weekend to be fresh in case other starters aren’t as effective. The junior from New Jersey seems like he has established himself early as that ace for the Irish.

The Irish and Sheehan return to the field on Thursday in San Antonio, Texas as they will battle Incarnate Word in a pair of games then their first split team double-header. Notre Dame will face Toledo then later in the day University of Texas-San Antonio to round out the Alamo Irish Classic.

Notre Dame Baseball Wins Opening Series of Season in Coach Jarrett’s Debut

Notre Dame Baseball wins their opening series of year with a 9-3 clinching victory against UAB.

The Notre Dame Baseball team are headed home with a series win, as Link Jarrett navigated his team to two out of three wins against University of Alabama-Birmingham this weekend in his first series as the Irish Manager. In his first start of his career, Will Mercer went three innings and gave up 3 runs while striking out three. Mercer pitched well, but was a bit wild, hitting two batters over his three innings.

The offense scored runs early, trying to give Mercer a cushion early on, as Catcher Danny LaManna drove in 2 runs with a double in the top of the second and DH Carter Putz scored on 3B Niko Kavadas sacrifice-fly. The 3 run lead would evaporate in the 2nd as Mercer gave up his all three of his runs with two outs.

Kavadas came up with one on in the 5th and launch his first homer of the year, giving the Irish a 5-3 lead they wouldn’t squander. Putz doubled in two more runs and scored on the play with some aid by sloppy Blazer defense. Second baseman Jared Miller then drove in SS Jack Prajzner to get to the final 9-3 tally.

The Irish relief pitchers where the story of the game as Mitch Megias, Tommy Vail and Joe Boyle held UAB to no runs over 6 innings without allowing a hit, just one walk, and striking out 7 Blazers. It was a very successful first weekend for Jarrett and the Irish as they return home with a 2-1 record and get ready for the Alamo Irish Classic next weekend in Texas. Their first game is against Incarnate Word on Thursday at 7pm EST.

Notre Dame Baseball Falls to UAB 10-7, Series to be Decided Tomorrow

Notre Dame Baseball loses game 2 of the season to UAB, series to be decided tomorrow afternoon.

The Irish got off to a fast start in their second game of the year against UAB today, as SS Zach Prajzner continued his hot hitting early in the season. He launched an opposite field 3-run homer in the top of the first to give first time starter Alex Rao a cushion.

Rao would need it, as he gave up two runs in the bottom of the first, a stark change from yesterday’s low scoring contest. Rao would give up 3 more runs the next frame, unable to finish it as he left giving up 5 runs over 1.2 IP’s.

The Blazers would add another run in the bottom of the 6th off reliever Andrew Belcik, which chased him after going 2.1 IP’s. Link Jarrett’s team would answer tying the game at 6 runs a piece in the top of the 7th after LF Eric Gilgenbach hit a 2-run bomb after 2B Jared Miller scored on a wild pitch..

The tie game however was short lived as in the bottom of the 7th Blazers catcher JP Fullerton hit a grand slam to give UAB a 10-6 lead after the stretch. Jarrett’s team once again tried to battle back from a deficit, as pinch hitter Zack Zyska homered in the 9th but the rally fell short and the Irish lost 10-7. The series will be decided tomorrow as the finale will be played tomorrow at 1pm EST with a chance to come back to South Bend with a 2-1 record.

Notre Dame Baseball Win’s Jarrett’s Coaching Debut

The Notre Dame baseball team begins their season with a road victory against UAB.

The Link Jarrett era began with a 4-2 road victory against University of Alabama-Birmingham this afternoon. Left-hander Tommy Sheehan got the start, going seven strong innings, allow just one hit and walked a batter, while striking out a career high 9 Blazers.

The weather wasn’t ideal conditions for a lot of runs, 46 degrees and sunny, but the Irish did enough to get the job done in the opener. The Irish offense scored a pair of runs in each of the 7th and 8th innings, getting things started was SS Zach Prajzner, as he drove in 3B Niko Kavadas with a single then scored on a UAB wild pitch. The eighth saw two more runs on a wild pitches as CF Spencer Myers and 2B Jared Miller both scored insurance runs the Irish would need.

In the bottom of the 8th, left-handed reliever Tommy Vail gave up a two-run double for the Blazers only runs. Sheehan was the star of the opener, needing just 89 pitches to face 24 batters in a masterful outing. Jarrett and the Irish don’t have much time to celebrate, as they return to the field tomorrow afternoon to face UAB once again at 2pm EST.

Notre Dame Baseball Names Captains Ahead of Season Opener Friday

Notre Dame Baseball names 4 captains ahead of season opener Friday.

The Irish Baseball team gets their season started and today they named the 4 captains in Head coach Link Jarrett’s first year. Starting pitcher Cameron Brown, reliever Joe Boyle, 3B Niko Kavadas, and OF/1B Daniel Jung were selected by their peers to be the leaders of this team.

Just recently both Kavadas and Boyle were named Preseason All-American’s by Baseball America, both on the third team, and it’s a good sign that they were named as captains. Three of the four are first time captains, with Brown getting the nod for the second straight year, but not all good news for the starter as he will miss the season recovering from arm surgery.

The Irish take the field for the first time this Friday, a road trip to University of Alabama-Birmingham at Regions Park. The season opener starts at 5:00pm eastern, while the Saturday and Sunday’s game are mid-afternoon contests. It’s very typical that Midwestern baseball teams don’t play home games until later in the season and that’s exactly the case for the Irish. They won’t host a game in South Bend until March 17th against Western Michigan, their 18th game of the season.

There are high expectations for Jarrett’s first year as head coach but the Irish face preseason #1 Louisville, #8 North Carolina, #11 Florida State, and #21 NC St on the road, while hosting #6 Miami and #25 Clemson. The schedule is not easy in the deep and talented ACC, but there is always hope at the start of a new baseball season’s.