Tag: baseball

Notre Dame soars in latest Baseball America rankings

Anyone book a hotel room for Omaha yet?

After a weekend sweep of North Carolina that sent the Notre Dame baseball team to 24-8 overall in 2021 and 21-8 in ACC play, the Fighting Irish have soared all the way to number two in the latest Baseball America college baseball rankings.

The only team ranked ahead of head coach Link Jarrett’s Irish is Arkansas as the Razorbacks are 34-8 overall and 15-6 in SEC play.

The entire top 25  in this week’s Baseball America poll goes as follows:

  1. Arkansas
  2. Notre Dame
  3. Vanderbilt
  4. Mississippi State
  5. TCU
  6. Tennessee
  7. Arizona
  8. Texas Tech
  9. Texas
  10. Florida
  11. Mississippi
  12. Louisville
  13. East Carolina
  14. Florida State
  15. South Carolina
  16. Pittsburgh
  17. Oregon
  18. Louisiana Tech
  19. Stanford
  20. Old Dominio
  21. Charlotte
  22. Southern Mississippi
  23. Indiana
  24. UC Irvine
  25. Fairfield

Series Preview: Florida welcomes No. 2 Vanderbilt for tough weekend series

Here is a look below at the starting pitchers lined up for this weekend’s series along with the projected starting lineup for UF vs. VU.

The No. 14 Florida Gators (28-12, 11-7 SEC) welcome the No. 2 Vanderbilt Commodores (31-7, 13-5) to Gainesville this weekend for a three-game set that could be UF’s biggest challenge yet this season. The two Southeastern Conference foes take the field opposite each other on Friday night for the first time since 2019.

Coming into the weekend, the Commodores have been one of the most dominant teams in the nation, headlined by a pair of starting pitchers projected to be taken at the top of the 2021 MLB draft this summer. Florida will face both of them in this series: Kumar Rocker in the first game and Jack Leiter in the second. Vandy has won seven of its last 10, including two wins in a three-game series against the No. 4 Mississippi State Bulldogs last weekend.

Historically, Florida holds the edge all-time since their first meeting in 1997, 48-31, but the series has been back-and-forth over the past few years, with Vanderbilt sweeping three games at home in 2019 after the Gators won four straight from 2017 to 2018. UF holds the longest winning streak between the two, stretching eight games from 2000 to 2002; Vandy’s best run was a four-game streak from 2006 to 2007.

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: Recapping a winning weekend for most of Florida athletics

It was a mostly successful one for Gators sports, though one title run came to an end in the finals while another’s stopped short on Friday.

Welcome back from the weekend Gators fans! It was a mostly successful one for the men and women in the Orange and Blue, though one team’s title run came to a disappointing end in the final round while another’s stopped short at the first cut. Otherwise, Florida athletics excelled the past few days as the other three teams all won their weekend series, with one doing so in sweeping fashion. Here is a look at the action leading up to today.

Florida splits Sunday doubleheader, takes road series over Auburn

The Gators squandered a lead in Game 1, but a victory in Game 2 was enough to clinch a victory in the weekend series against Auburn.

Florida’s seven-game winning streak may have come to an end in its Sunday doubleheader against Auburn, but the Gators managed to secure a second-straight series win by splitting the two games.

After Saturday’s Game 2 was rained out, UF dropped the rescheduled bout in the first leg of the shortened seven-inning doubleheader in a high-scoring affair. But Florida survived a late push from Auburn in a much more defensive Game 3 to take the series over the SEC bottom-feeding Tigers.

Here’s a rundown of how each game played out. The Gators will be back in action for a critical series next weekend against No. 2 Vanderbilt.

ACC baseball standings (as of April 25)

Current ACC baseball standings after cancellations and comebacks

Notre Dame dropped the series opener at Boston College this weekend 10-0 before coming back to sweep Saturday’s doubleheader and win the series on Saturday.

Because of impending rain in the northeast, Sunday’s game was played on Saturday as the series wrapped.

The Fighting Irish and Louisville continue to battle for the top spot in the ACC Coastal Division with mere percentage points separating the two.

Louisville’s series with Pitt that was scheduled for this weekend was postponed.

Here is how the ACC baseball standings currently look entering Sunday’s play:

ACC Coastal:
Louisville 14-6, .700
Notre Dame 18-8, .692
Florida State 14-11, .560
NC State 10-12, .455
Clemson 10-12, .455
Wake Forest 6-15, .286
Boston College 6-18, .250

ACC Atlantic:
Virginia Tech 15-10, .600
Pittsburgh 14-10, .583
Georgia Tech 14-11, .560
North Carolina 14-12, .538
Miami 13-12, .520
Virginia 11-15, .423
Duke 8-15, .348

Watch: Highlights from Notre Dame’s unreal, 12-run 8th inning comeback win

A comeback you have to see to believe.

The bad news is that Notre Dame baseball has made a bad habit of falling behind by large margins in games this year.

“Don’t call it a comeback, I been here for years
I’m rockin’ my peers, puttin’ suckers in fear”

-LL Cool J, 1990

The good news is that there is never a game where you feel that Notre Dame’s chances of winning are actually gone as they’ve put together impressive comebacks several times.

That was again the case in Saturday’s doubleheader nightcap at Boston College where the Irish entered the eighth inning trailing 9-1 but walked out a 13-9 victor.

For a full game story check out the link to our post here.

Check out the full highlights from Notre Dame’s comeback victory below:

Look: Highlights from Notre Dame’s game one win at BC

Win one is in the books.

Notre Dame won two games at Boston College on Saturday, the first being a 5-2 victory where the Irish led the entire way.

Niko Kavadas helped pad the Irish lead late as he hit a two-run home run to extend the Notre Dame lead to 5-2, which was the eventual final score.

To read on the entirety of game one, check out our entire game story here.

The win helped the Irish as they continue to battle for the top spot in the ACC Coastal division with Louisville.

Check out all of Notre Dame’s highlights from the 5-2, game one victory on Saturday below:

Unreal comeback gives Notre Dame game two victory

“Unreal comeback” and “Notre Dame baseball” go together well this year.

It was over.

It was done.

No. 6 Notre Dame had already taken game one of Saturday’s doubleheader at Boston College and game two appeared to be just an afterthought for the Irish.

Alex Stiegler had been stellar in his seven innings of work for the Eagles as he allowed just one run while his teammates had his back, tallying nine runs for him on the afternoon.

Trailing 9-1 as they batted in the visitors half of the eighth inning, Notre Dame baseball did it again.

The Irish bats were extremely tough on Boston College’s bullpen as they’d cross 12 runs in the eighth inning to take a 13-9 lead that they’d eventually win by.

Niko Kavadas hit yet another home run to get things going in the inning, bringing the Irish within seven, and perhaps that was the air Notre Dame simply needed in its lungs.

Shortly after, Zack Prajzner hit a three-run blast to bring Notre Dame within four before a misplay by Boston College’s second baseman helped extend the inning while tightening the game to a three-run margin.

David LaManna eventually beat out a play at first base that allowed both Ryan Cole and Kavadas, giving the Irish a 10-9 lead.

Liam Simon and Aidyn Tyrell recorded the final six outs to secure Notre Dame’s improbable victory, 13-9.

The Irish are now 20-8 overall and 18-8 in ACC play while Boston College fell to 16-21 overall and 6-18 in the conference.

The sixth-ranked Irish will go for the series sweep Sunday afternoon at Boston College.

Another Kavadas home run helps Notre Dame take game 1

Niko Kavadas continues to rip the cover off the baseball.

After the weather postponed Friday’s series opener for the No. 6 Notre Dame baseball team at Boston College, the Irish took game one of Saturday’s doubleheader after getting ahead early.

Spencer Myers scored the first run by way of a Carter Putz sacrifice fly before Ryan Cole successfully stole home as Boston College attempted to catch Niko Kavadas while attempting to steal second base.  Cole sprinted home to give the Irish the early 2-0 lead.

Notre Dame rode a stellar outing from John Bertrand who went 6.1 innings and allowed only two runs, both of which were earned.

Leading the Eagles 3-2 in the ninth inning, Kavadas hit an opposite-field home run to extend Notre Dame’s lead to 5-2, the eventual final score.  The home run was Kavadas’s 14th of the season.

The win improved Notre Dame to 19-8 overall and 17-8 in the ACC while Boston College fell to 16-20 overall and 6-17 in ACC play.