Category: Notre Dame Baseball

Notre Dame baseball: Martinez go-ahead homer leads Irish to opening win vs. NC State

Notre Dame got a much-needed series opening win in dramatic fashion.

Notre Dame opened their final home ACC series of the season on Thursday night with a dramatic win over North Carolina State.  The Irish jumped out to a 3-0 lead after scoring in both of the first two frames but allowed the Wolfpack to rally for four runs to start the third.

Zach Prajzner’s sacrifice fly scored Vinny Martinez to tie things at four in the in fourth inning before NC State added a pair more in the fifth.  Prajzner then got the Irish back within one with an RBI-single in the sixth before a Carter Putz double tied things up.  Prajzner scored to put the Irish ahead 7-6 in the bottom of the sixth on a wild pitch.

NC State wasn’t done yet though as second baseman Payton Green hit a solo home run to even the score at 7 in the seventh.  Green had three RBI on the evening.

Still tied at 7 in the home half of the eighth, Vinny Martinez stepped to the plate for Notre Dame with Putz already on-base.

BOOM!  Martinez’s oppo-taco gave the Irish a 9-7 advantage they’d ultimately win by.

The win moves Notre Dame to 26-17 overall and 14-11 in ACC play.  Game two of the series takes place 5 p.m. ET Friday night.

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Notre Dame baseball falls 5-4 against Lipscomb

Game one didn’t result in their first win but tomorrow is another day

This wasn’t the way new [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] head coach [autotag]Shawn Stiffler[/autotag] envisioned opening the season: losing to Lipscomb, 5-4. It was a difficult go for the Irish hitters, who mustered one hit all afternoon.

The hit was a big one. Outfielder [autotag]TJ Williams[/autotag] blasted a two-run homer in the top of the fifth. The offense showed some life late, putting two runners on in the ninth. Both advanced and scored on wild pitches. With two outs, Zack Prajzner walked and Williams came to the plate. He struck out to end the game.

It wasn’t easy on Irish pitchers either. Both starter [autotag]Blake Hely[/autotag] and reliever [autotag]Jack Findlay[/autotag] gave up multiple runs.

Hely lasted three innings, giving up three runs while striking out just one. Findlay came in to relieve him. While he had his strikeout pitches working, fanning seven, he gave up two runs in his three innings.

The Irish try again for win No. 1 of the year on Saturday, 3 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

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Notre Dame baseball takes home series against Louisville, first in program history

A historic series for Notre Dame in South Bend

It was quite the weekend for [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] baseball. On Friday nights series opener again [autotag]Louisville[/autotag], the Irish put together four runs in the bottom of the 5th and 6th innings and held off the Cardinal 4-3.

Saturday saw bad weather in South Bend, so the series would have to finish on Sunday with a double-header. Notre Dame would win another one run game, this time 5-4, again the 5th inning was magic as they scored all their runs in that inning.

The win made history in [autotag]Frank Eck Stadium[/autotag], as it was the first time ever that Notre Dame had won a home series against Louisville.

The finale would be a close contest as well, the Irish coming up just short, losing 2-1, narrowly missing a sweep of the visitors. The weekend series victory would improve the season record to 12-9 with a 4-5 mark in ACC play.

Notre Dame gets a day off today and will be back on the diamond on Tuesday as they host Butler with first pitch scheduled for 5 p.m. EST.

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One former Notre Dame baseball player impresses after being drafted

No surprises here

When the San Francisco Giants selected former Notre Dame ace John Michael Bertrand, it should have been viewed as one of the steals of the draft. I was somewhat shocked that he went so late, getting selected in the 10th round. After what JMB did in his short time with the Giants, that assertion was spot on.

When MLB.com looked at the best 2022 professional debuts, Bertrand was named among top performers. The lefty led the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 2.81 ERA and struck out twice as many hitters as he allowed walks. Since his transfer from Furman and through his first season of pro ball, JMB has been fantastic.

The Irish will miss their ace from the past two years but it is great seeing Bertrand having success so early into his professional career.

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Former Notre Dame 3B/P Brannigan signs with Pittsburgh

Congrats Jack!

One of the most electric players in Major League Baseball is Anaheim Angels pitcher, outfielder, designated hitter Shohei Ohtani. With an fastball that touches 100 miles-per-hour and prodigious power, Ohtani has changed the way many teams view two-way players.

Notre Dame’s [autotag]Jack Brannigan[/autotag] is one of those, the regular Irish third-baseman over the last two seasons and occasional pitcher will get his opportunity to do what Ohtani does, play both ways. When drafted in the 3rd round by the Pittsburgh Pirates, Brannigan wasn’t given one position description, he was labeled as both, leading many to wonder if he will be able to do that at the highest level. After officially signing with the Pirates, it seems like Brannigan will.

It will be interesting to watch Brannigan during his professional career, especially how long the Pirates will allow him to play both ways and how they will handle it. Either way, the former Irish star will get his chance to play both ways at the professional level.

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Which Notre Dame Baseball stars got selected in MLB Draft on day two

The Irish continue to show why this past season was so productive

The Irish saw the first day of the MLB Draft go without a current player on the roster selected, although Illinois signee [autotag]Owen Murphy[/autotag] was selected by the Atlanta Braves with the 20th overall pick. The second day of the draft saw a few current Irish stars get selected. Find out who and where they were selected below.

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Notre Dame Baseball commits goes higher than anticipated in MLB Draft

Congrats young man!

Many of the MLB Draft experts saw this draft as a weak one for pitching, which was enough for them to drop many of the pitching prospects down their boards. When the draft commenced on Sunday night, most of the industry’s best, looked a bit foolish as multiple pitchers were drafted higher than they were mocked.

The same went for Notre Dame Baseball signee Owen Murphy, who was selected by the Atlanta Braves with the 20th overall selection in the first round. The consensus was that Murphy would get drafted early, but not this early, often falling to a team starting around the compensation picks.

The defending World Series Champions went heavy on the pitching side, with each of their first four selections highlighted by Murphy. As for his career with the Irish, at this moment it is unknown what he will do but if I had to guess, we unfortunately won’t ever see Murphy in the Blue and Gold.

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Watch: New Notre Dame Baseball coach Stiffler introduced

Welcome coach!

The Irish are coming off a stretch over the last three seasons where they were one of the best teams in the country. [autotag]Link Jarrett[/autotag] did what many didn’t think was possible, making a Midwest baseball team into a perennial contender. Unfortunately for Notre Dame, the timing of Jarrett’s alma mater having an opening and his success with the Irish saw him leave to return home and take over the Florida State opening.

The Irish needed to find his replacement, which they did in [autotag]Shawn Stiffler[/autotag], who for the past 15-years was at the helm of the VCU program. It was tough for him to leave, but taking over a program that is coming off a College World Series berth was too much to pass up. Take a look at Irish AD [autotag]Jack Swarbrick[/autotag] introduce the newest Notre Dame Baseball head coach.

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Could Notre Dame Baseball signee spur the Irish for the MLB?

The allure of being a 1st-round pick is tempting

There is a lot to be said about potentially going in the first round of any draft, let alone the MLB Draft. That is exactly the scenario for Irish verbal [autotag]Owen Murphy[/autotag] of Riverside Brookfield High School in Illinois.

Currently the right-handed pitcher is viewed as a potential supplemental first-round selection, most recently by ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel (insider). He could end up going the same route as current Notre Dame two-way star Jack Brannigan, but that’s only if he actually ends up in South Bend.

Committing to [autotag]Link Jarrett[/autotag], who now has gone back to his alma mater Florida State to be their head coach, Murphy will have a massive life choice in front of him. It is entirely possible that due to the uncertainty of who the Irish manager will be, that Murphy could skip college and get his professional career started.

On the other hand, he could get drafted by a team he may not want to play for, decided that his draft stock and subsequent signing bonus could improve and make more money while getting close to completing a degree in three-years.

At this point it’s an unknown what Murphy’s intentions will be. What we do know is that he is a highly-thought of prospect, the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year, that will be an asset wherever he lands next.

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Notre Dame’s ace adds another pair of honors to his fantastic season

Surprised?

It didn’t end how everyone wanted, but what the Irish baseball team did this spring will be remembered for a long time. A massive part of their success, breaking a 20-year drought and making it to the College World Series was ace pitcher [autotag]John Michael Bertrand[/autotag].

The graduate senior was excellent all year, pitching 109-innings, striking out 111-batters, winning 10 games with his stellar 2.81 ERA. When you’re the best pitcher on one of the best teams in the country, you’re going to get noticed. That’s exactly what happened with JMB, after being named to Baseball America and D1Baseball’s All-American teams, it made five different outlets giving Bertrand the distinction.

The lefty will now move on to the professional ranks, but his Irish legacy will live on.

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