It might be the official start of March Madness this week but the Notre Dame baseball team is trying to steal the headlines. After taking a pair of games at previously ranked North Carolina State this weekend, the Irish moved to 11-1 overall on year while starting ACC play 2-0.
Notre Dame also took over the top spot in the Baseball America poll that was released on Monday.
When a team is as good as Notre Dame has been early on there are a number of factors. The starting pitching has been lights out with an ERA of just 1.77 and the bullpen has been just as good with a combined ERA of 1.71 through 12 games.
Texas had been ranked in the top spot before falling to Texas State last week and dropping a pair of games at South Carolina this weekend. Stanford fell from their second overall ranking after dropping a pair of games to Oregon.
𝐍𝐨. 𝟏
The Irish are ranked #1 in the @BaseballAmerica poll!
It is their highest-ranking since 2001!#GoIrish https://t.co/JDG3sNgOtn pic.twitter.com/zSVNk06Uqk
— Notre Dame Baseball (@NDBaseball) March 14, 2022
Notre Dame’s home opener for the 2022 season is set for Tuesday when they play host to Valparaiso at 4:00 p.m. ET. The Irish are then on the road again this weekend as they’ll be at Louisville for three games starting Friday night.