Tag: baseball

Watch: Highlights of No. 3 Notre Dame’s win at Virginia Tech

Flashing some leather were the Irish Friday night!

No. 3 Notre Dame clinched their 10th series victory of the season on Friday night as the Irish bested Virginia Tech 4-0 to improve to 28-10 overall and 24-10 in ACC play.

Although the score seemed heavily in Notre Dame’s favor, the Hokies were very close to putting a dent in the Irish lead on multiple occasions but as has been the story all year, the Irish defense was stellar, helping to cement the victory.

The win secured Notre Dame another series victory as they’ll go for the sweep on Saturday afternoon in a 1 p.m. ET start at Virginia Tech before heading to Charlotte for the 2021 ACC Baseball Tournament that begins next week and where the Irish will be the top-overall seed.

Check out the highlights from Friday night’s action here:

No. 3 Notre Dame clinches series at Virginia Tech with shutout

Another series victory for the Irish!

The No. 3 Notre Dame baseball team clinched their final regular-season series of the year on Friday night as they won the second of three games this weekend at Virginia Tech.

Fresh off an 8-2 victory on Thursday, the Irish used 5.2 innings from starter Aidan Tyrell who allowed just three baserunners on the evening.  Tanner Kohlhepp provided 2.1 innings of middle relief before Jack Brannigan recorded the final three outs, all via strikeout to secure the combined shutout.

Offensively it was left fielder Ryan Cole’s two-run home run that got the Irish going while Niko Kavadas and Jared Miller each had an RBI.

The win moves Notre Dame to 28-10 on the year and 24-10 in ACC play, go enough for the top-overall seed in next week’s conference tournament.

The Irish close out the regular season on Saturday at Virginia Tech with the first pitch set for 1 p.m. ET.

Watch: Highlights from No. 3 Notre Dame’s win at Virginia Tech

The Irish kept things rolling on Thursday night…

The No. 3 Notre Dame baseball team used a huge evening from ace John Michael Bertrand to defeat Virginia Tech 8-2 and take the opener of the final regular-season series of 2021.

Bertrand was spectacular in his final regular-season start, pitching his second complete game of the season and allowing just one earned run along the way.

The win moved Notre Dame to 27-10 on the year and an ACC best 23-10 in the conference.

Check out the highlights from Bertrand’s gem and the six-run fifth inning for the Fighting Irish on Thursday night below:

Related: Game story from Notre Dame’s series-opening win at Virginia Tech

Bertrand goes distance in No. 3 Notre Dame’s series opening win

Another one in the left column for the Irish.

Notre Dame’s third-ranked baseball team hadn’t played a game in nine days but you wouldn’t have noticed had you watched Thursday’s series-opening win at Virginia Tech.

John Michael Bertrand went the distance for the Irish, allowing just one earned run and striking out eight to help the Irish to an 8-2 victory over the Hokies.

A Jared Miller, three-run triple in the fifth inning stretched the Notre Dame lead to 7-0 as the Irish wouldn’t look back.

Centerfielder Spencer Myers and rightfielder Brooks Coetzee both scored a pair of runs for the victorious Irish.

The win moves Notre Dame to 27-10 overall in 2021 and 23-10 in ACC play as they have already clinched the top seed in next week’s ACC baseball tournament.

Virginia Tech falls to 27-21 overall and 16-18 in conference with the loss.

Game two of the series takes place Friday night at 6 p.m. ET in Blacksburg and can be seen on ACC Network Extra.

Series Preview: No. 9 Florida wraps up season vs. No. 1 Arkansas

This three-game battle between SEC behemoths Florida and Arkansas should provide some great baseball heading into the postseason.

The 2021 college baseball regular season comes to a close this weekend and the Florida Gators (35-16, 17-10 SEC) are set to wrap up their schedule on the road with its toughest opponent to date: the No. 1 Arkansas Razorbacks (39-10, 19-8 SEC). UF is coming off a series win against the Georgia Bulldogs last weekend — but dropped the final game — and is 7-3 in its last 10 games.

The Razorbacks have had a heck of a 2021 campaign and enter the series the top-ranked team in the nation as well as the Southeastern Conference. The Hogs started the season hot, winning their first 12 before dropping three in a row — one apiece to Louisiana Tech, Oklahoma and Alabama. Arkansas then ran off eight in a row before settling into its current pattern of winning several while dropping a loss here and there. Like Florida, UA is 7-3 in its past 10 games.

Historically, the two schools are a dead-even 32-32 against each other since the first meeting in 1979. Interestingly, the two programs also share the series-high winning streak at seven games, with Florida’s coming from 2000 to 2004 and Arkansas from 2008 to 2010. Florida has won six of the last 10 but aside from the aforementioned winning streaks, the two teams have traded wins with fair regularity.

Here is a look below at the starting pitchers lined up for this weekend’s series along with the projected starting lineup. Scroll down further for interesting excerpts from the media guide.

Series Preview: No. 9 Florida wraps up season vs. No. 1 Arkansas

This three-game battle between SEC behemoths Florida and Arkansas should provide some great baseball heading into the postseason.

The 2021 college baseball regular season comes to a close this weekend and the Florida Gators (35-16, 17-10 SEC) are set to wrap up their schedule on the road with its toughest opponent to date: the No. 1 Arkansas Razorbacks (39-10, 19-8 SEC). UF is coming off a series win against the Georgia Bulldogs last weekend — but dropped the final game — and is 7-3 in its last 10 games.

The Razorbacks have had a heck of a 2021 campaign and enter the series the top-ranked team in the nation as well as the Southeastern Conference. The Hogs started the season hot, winning their first 12 before dropping three in a row — one apiece to Louisiana Tech, Oklahoma and Alabama. Arkansas then ran off eight in a row before settling into its current pattern of winning several while dropping a loss here and there. Like Florida, UA is 7-3 in its past 10 games.

Historically, the two schools are a dead-even 32-32 against each other since the first meeting in 1979. Interestingly, the two programs also share the series-high winning streak at seven games, with Florida’s coming from 2000 to 2004 and Arkansas from 2008 to 2010. Florida has won six of the last 10 but aside from the aforementioned winning streaks, the two teams have traded wins with fair regularity.

Here is a look below at the starting pitchers lined up for this weekend’s series along with the projected starting lineup. Scroll down further for interesting excerpts from the media guide.

Gators News: Men’s golf advances, men’s tennis and baseball play today

The men’s tennis and golf teams are both fighting for their NCAA Tournament lives while the baseball team wraps up its regular season.

Spring is quickly fading away as regular seasons wane and the postseason takes over college sports. For the Florida Gators, its men’s golf and tennis teams are currently in the thick of a national championship hunt while the baseball team gets its biggest challenge in its final series of the regular season schedule. Let us take a look at the latest from the Gator Nation.

WATCH: All 20 of Jud Fabian’s home run swings in 2021 so far

The Gators’ official baseball Twitter account posted a video of all 20 of Fabians dingers on Tuesday. Here they are in all of their glory. 

It has been an up-and-down season for Florida baseball in 2021. The team started the schedule ranked first in the nation but quickly tumbled from the top after some shaky play in the early going. However, the squad has pulled together and made a strong push as the postseason grows near.

The story arc of UF’s star center fielder Jud Fabian has followed a similar trajectory this season. After a slow start and a few rough patches, the third-year sophomore has dialed it up over the past couple of months and now leads the Southeastern Conference in home runs while raising his batting average from the sub-Mendoza depths to a respectable .267 as of Wednesday.

The Florida Gators official baseball Twitter account posted a video of all 20 of Fabian’s home run swings on Tuesday. Here they are in all of their glory — how sweet is that stroke?

While Florida’s immensely talented outfielder lost a bit of draft stock this season — coming into the year he was projected as a top-10 pick, if not top-5 — he has generated some inertia as the schedule wanes and a strong postseason showing could put him back into the first round. After all, he came to Gainesville early out of high school and is still only 20 years old.

Regardless of where he lands when he leaves, he is a big part of what makes this current baseball roster so special.

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Gators’ four dingers seal series win against Georgia Bulldogs

Florida baseball hit four total home runs in a 9-2 win over rival Georgia Bulldogs in Game 2 on Saturday, clinching a series victory.

Florida struggled to get run support in a 4-3 win over Georgia on Friday night, but no such issues were present in Game 2 on Saturday. The Gators combined to hit four home runs while stranding seven Bulldogs batters on base. UF took a victory in the weekend series with a dominating 9-2 win.

Hunter Barco made his first Saturday start of the season, and he continued his recent trend of strong command on the bump. He pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing six hits but just two earned runs while striking out eight. However, it wasn’t an ideal start to the game for the freshman.

He allowed just one hit in the first inning, but he let the Bulldogs (28-20, 11-15 SEC) get on the board first in the second. He gave up a walk and a double against his first two batters in the frame, and a wild pitch on the next at-bat brought the first run of the game across. Barco forced a groundout, but an RBI single from Randon Jernigan put a second up for UGA.

Florida (35-15, 17-9 SEC) responded at the bottom of the inning, though. Kendrick Calilao led off with a single, and a pair of walks loaded the bases for UF with two outs. Jacob Young stepped into the batter’s box, and with two strikes, he delivered a two-RBI single to even the game up.

Barco worked through the side in order in the third, and UF’s offense got back to work. Jud Fabian led off with a solo home run, and two at-bats later, Calilao crushed a solo shot of his own. Just like that, the Gators had a two-run lead, and it also ended the night for Georgia’s starter, Jaden Woods.

Reliever Darryn Pasqua didn’t fare much better, though. He gave up just one hit in the fourth (on a bunt), but in the fifth, the power-hitting returned for the Gators. Fabian hit another leadoff homer, and later in the frame, Josh Rivera got into the action with a two-run shot, putting Florida up five runs.

Barco, meanwhile, didn’t give up a hit after the fourth inning, but a walk with one out in the seventh was enough for Kevin O’Sullivan to change things up. Christian Scott entered, and he immediately forced an inning-ending double play.

UF wasn’t satisfied with a 7-2 lead, though. It loaded the bases, once again, with a single from Kris Armstrong followed by a pair of walks. Rivera notched another base hit on a single that scored two more runs.

Scott just pitched through the eighth, but he only allowed one hit in his short 1 and 2/3 inning appearance. David Luethje entered for the final inning, and he had no issues, retiring the Georgia side in order to end the game.

With a series victory already locked up, the Gators will go for the sweep of UGA on Sunday before turning their attention to their final SEC series against No. 1 Arkansas. First pitch for Game 3 against the Bulldogs at Florida Ballpark is set for 12:30 p.m. EDT.

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Florida baseball takes opener against Georgia in low-scoring game

A two-out single from Josh Rivera in the eighth inning made the difference in a 4-3 win for the Gators in their opener against Georgia.

Both Florida and Georgia struggled to pull away from each other in Game 1 of their weekend series on Friday night. Though the squads combined for 17 hits, they also stranded 15 players on base in total. But an eighth-inning run put the Gators ahead, and they took a 4-3 win in the opener.

Tommy Mace returned to his role as the Friday night starter, and he had an overall solid performance (albeit one that didn’t net a win in the statsheet) despite allowing seven hits. He allowed a single in the first inning but worked clean through the second.

At the bottom of the second, Kendrick Calilao crushed a bomb of Georgia (28-19, 11-14 SEC) over the center-field wall with two outs to give the Gators (34-15, 16-9 SEC) an early lead.

But the Bulldogs managed to respond at the top of the third. Cole Tate led off with a single, and Josh McAllister hit another one to bring the tying run across. With runners at the corners, a sac-fly on the next at-bat gave UGA the lead.

UF wasn’t to be outdone, though. Sterlin Thompson hit a leadoff double in the bottom of the frame, and a Cory Acton sac-bunt advanced him to third. Jacob Young hit an RBI groundout to bring Thompson across and tie the game back up.

Mace got through the fourth relatively unscathed, and though he started the fifth with a pair of flyouts, another single from McAllister followed by a walk put two aboard. Mace couldn’t keep the lead intact, allowing an RBI single from Connor Tate to put Georgia back on top.

Once again, however, Florida answered. With one out in the bottom of the frame, Acton singled, and a double on the subsequent at-bat from Young brought him all the way around from first to score the tying run.

Mace retired the side in order in the sixth, and though UF got two runners on in that inning of a walk and hit-by-pitch, it couldn’t score the go-ahead run. Mace looked like he was going to get through the seventh, but with two outs, he allowed a double to McAllister (his fourth hit of the game) and Kevin O’Sullivan pulled the plug on Mace, who gave up three earned runs and struck out 10 in his 6 and 2/3 innings.

Trey Van Der Weide entered for his 19th appearance of the season (tied for second-most on the team), and he struck out his first batter to end the inning. But Florida’s offense continued to struggle. Acton singled at the bottom of the seventh, but nothing came of it as the other three batters struck out.

Jack Leftwich came in at the top of the eighth inning, and he once again impressed in his new closer role (though it wasn’t a save situation). He retired the Bulldogs lineup in order, and UF came up to bat once again trying to break the tie.

Jud Fabian led off with a flyout, but Georgia reliever Ben Harris put two on with a walk and a hit-by-pitch. After an advance on a flyout and a steal, both of those runners were in scoring position. With two outs, Josh Rivera came up clutch with his only hit of the game, a single to left field, that brought Kris Armstrong across to score the go-ahead run.

UGA had something going in the top of the ninth as a pair of singles Leftwich allowed put runners at first and second. But two-straight strikeouts stopped the rally in its tracks as Leftwich took his seventh win of the season, striking out five in only two innings of work.

With the Game 1 win locked up, UF will try to take the series against the Bulldogs in Game 2 on Saturday, which is set to start at 6:30 p.m. The Gators will hope their strength at home, which has given them a 27-6 record at Florida Ballpark this season, continues in that one.

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