Tag: Jack Brannigan

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.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on Twitter: @MikeFChen

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.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on Twitter: @MikeFChen

Three factors for Notre Dame Baseball to return to College World Series

Can the Irish return to Omaha next season?

The bar has been set for Irish baseball and it’s high. In the two full seasons that [autotag]Link Jarrett[/autotag] has been at the helm, Notre Dame has made it to the Super Regionals last year and this year the College World Series. Although neither trip resulted in hardware being brought back to South Bend, the play has set a standard for the Irish. Here are three factors for the Notre Dame Baseball team to make a return to Omaha next season.

[listicle id=57619]

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on Twitter: @MikeFChen

Watch: Notre Dame gets outs on two crazy plays against Oklahoma

They happened in the same inning!!!

The Irish are in a battle, as the Oklahoma offense had seemingly solved lefty hurler [autotag]Aiden Tyrell[/autotag]. Then some very weird plays happened, both in the bottom of the fourth and both revolving around third baseman [autotag]Jack Brannigan[/autotag].

First, it was a fly-ball towards left fielder [autotag]Ryan Cole[/autotag], who dove but came up a bit short and the ball went past Cole to the wall. He quickly got up, gather himself, found [autotag]Zack Prajzner[/autotag], his cutoff man, who then fired to Brannigan and go the runner at third.

That wasn’t the end of the odd defensive plays during the inning. This time it was right fielder [autotag]Brooks Coetzee[/autotag] gunning out the baserunner at third only to see Brannigan lose the ball on the tag, hit the Sooners third-base coach and the Irish third baseman quickly grabbed the ball and tagged out the runner.

It was two crazy sequences that happened which has kept the Irish deficit at just two runs as they continue to battle against Oklahoma in the winners bracket in the College World Series.

[listicle id=57619]

[lawrence-related id=57647]

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on Twitter: @MikeFChen

Notre Dame knox off number one seeded Tennessee, advance to College World Series

The Irish are off to Omaha for the first time in 20-years!!!

For the majority of game three of the Knoxville Super Regional, it looked like the Irish would be ending their season once again on the brink of making the College World Series. [autotag]Link Jarrett[/autotag] then saw his team respond, like they have done all season.

First it was [autotag]David LaManna[/autotag], whose opposite field 2-run home run with two outs tied the game at three for the Irish. Then it was [autotag]Jack Brannigan[/autotag] time, who launched a solo-homer to give Notre Dame their first lead of the game, 4-3 in the top of the seventh.

Reliever [autotag]Jack Findlay[/autotag] then had what no other Irish pitcher had all game, a lead. He would then retire the Volunteers in order, send the game to the eighth.

More two-out magic for the Irish would continue in the top of the eighth. With runners on second and third, [autotag]Carter Putz[/autotag] sent a shot to right-center, falling for a double, plating two more runs, giving the Irish a 6-3 lead. The bats weren’t done, as [autotag]Jack Zyska[/autotag] singled to left scoring Putz and adding another run to the Notre Dame lead, 7-3.

Jarrett would ride the hot left-handed arm of Findlay through the end of the game, as he continued to put up zero’s against the Volunteer offense. Five innings of work for Findlay, allowing just one hit and two walks. Alex Rao deserves a lot of credit as well, as he came in relief of starter Liam Simon and limited damage as well.

The win propels the Irish to their first trip to Omaha since 2002, exactly twenty-years since their last visit and third time overall. The season that looked like it was over, will continue with the Irish having a chance to play for a National Championship.

[lawrence-related id=57387]

[lawrence-related id=57344]

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on Twitter: @MikeFChen

Watch: Notre Dame goes back-to-back to take lead over Tennessee

The Irish come storming back to take the lead!!!!

The Irish were looking like their season was coming to an end in Knoxville, Tennessee. With Volunteer freshman pitcher Chase Burns controlling the game, it didn’t seem like a 3-1 deficit entering the top of the seventh inning was something the Irish could comeback from.

Well, as this Irish team has shown all season, they just don’t give up. With [autotag]Carter Putz[/autotag] starting off the rally, doubling to deep left-center with one out. Cather [autotag]David LaManna[/autotag] then came up with two outs and Putz still on second and sent a line-drive down the right field line. The ball had just enough carry to go over the wall, tying the game at 3.

With the Irish right back in the game with one swing, it was [autotag]Jack Brannigan[/autotag] next up. Behind the count at 1-2, Brannigan launched a shot to left-center, clearing the wall by plenty to give Notre Dame their first lead of the game, 4-3.

Now, just nine outs away from heading to Omaha. The Irish look to finish off the number one seed in the NCAA Tournament, Tennessee.

[lawrence-related id=57344]

[lawrence-related id=57276]

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on Twitter: @MikeFChen

Notre Dame takes a few for the team, wins again in Statesboro Regional

One win away from the Super Regionals

It has not been easy for the Irish so far, but you wouldn’t know it by the results. Once again, Notre Dame scored late and held off their opponent, this time host Georgia Southern feeling the luck of the Irish.

After falling behind by a run early, the Irish put together two runs, both solo home runs by [autotag]Jack Zyska[/autotag] and [autotag]Jack Brannigan[/autotag]. Georgia Southern would then battle back to take a 4-2 after top of the sixth. The Irish bats once again answered in the bottom of the inning, as [autotag]Zack Prajzner[/autotag] blasted a two-run home to even the score at four.

The Irish would then score two more runs in the bottom of the seventh in an unconventional way. Back-to-back hit-by-pitches with the bases loaded scored the go-ahead runs for the Irish, 6-4.

[autotag]Matt Bedford[/autotag] would then struggle but [autotag]Jack Findlay[/autotag] has his back. Bedford allowed back-to-back singles to put runners on first and third. Findlay relieved him and promptly struck out back-to-back batters and got a ground out to end the inning. That wasn’t the end of Findlay’s brilliance, he would then shut down Georgia Southern in the top of the ninth, securing the win for the Irish, 6-4.

[autotag]Link Jarrett[/autotag] has now lead this team to one win away from a return to the Super Regionals, NCAA Baseball’s version of the ‘Sweet 16’ for the second consecutive season.

[lawrence-related id=56929]

[listicle id=56919]

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on Twitter: @MikeFChen

Four Reasons why Notre Dame Baseball advances to the Super Regionals

The post-season starts today for the Irish

The Irish are back on the diamond today, as the second seed in the Stateboro Regional of the NCAA Baseball Tournament. After last years amazing run to the Super Regionals, the expectations rose in [autotag]Link Jarrett’s[/autotag] first full season as the Notre Dame head coach. Another trip to the ‘Sweet 16’ won’t come easy, but here are four reasons why they will.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on Twitter: @MikeFChen

 

One Notre Dame player named to MLB Pipeline‘s Top-200 Draft prospects

It’s not who you think it is

The Irish have done well traditionally sending players off the the MLB, especially for a Midwest baseball team. Just last year pitcher [autotag]Tanner Kohlhepp[/autotag] and first baseman [autotag]Niko Kavadas[/autotag] were selected inside the first 11 rounds of the MLB Draft.

This coming season should see the same, as the Irish once again have a highly ranked squad and are facing off against North Carolina for a berth in the ACC Championship series. The NCAA Tournament looms large and so does the draft. Recently MLB Pipeline ranked the Top-200 draft prospects and had just one Notre Dame player on the list, and it’s not who many thought it would be.

Before looking at this list, my initial thought was where would pitcher [autotag]John Michael Bertrand[/autotag] land and if there was going to be another one of his teammates on this list. Well, the opposite happened and after looking over the list, it was why wasn’t JMB listed while [autotag]Jack Brannigan[/autotag] was.

This is no slight to Brannigan, who is a great player in his own right, but the ace of the Irish staff being left of this list is a big time omission. A left-handed power pitcher with a proven track record is what many teams should be looking for.

Back to Brannigan, who checked in as the 163rd player ranked and “has the best college arm in the Midwest” according to the scouting report. The two-way star is also projected to end up on the mound at the next level, but does want to start his professional career as a positional player. It surely will be interesting how teams handle that request.

Eithe way, the Irish have two very good draft eligible prospects but don’t be surprised to see a few other Notre Dame players get drafted as well.

[lawrence-related id=56622]

[lawrence-related id=56565]

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on Twitter: @MikeFChen

Watch: Notre Dame third baseman bear crawls in stealing home

What is the most exciting play in baseball?

If you ask any baseball fan what the most exciting play in the game is some will state how they love a majestic, 450-plus foot home run while others (myself included) would say a player trying to score from first on a ball in the gap.

A much more rare happening on the field however is when a player steals home plate.  We see it with creativity as a baserunner may try their hand at it after a catcher throws behind to second base, but the straight steal of home plate is incredibly rare these days.

What is even more rare is when the base stealer stumbles halfway down the third base line and is forced to bear crawl the remaining distance to the plate, and somehow still gets in safely.

That’s what happened Tuesday when Notre Dame stomped Northwestern 14-4 and Fighting Irish third baseman [autotag]Jack Brannigan[/autotag] successfully stole home for the third time in his career.  Watch the highlight below.

On multiple levels it reminds me of Little League games I’ve been a part of throughout the years.

You can check out Brannigan’s first two career steals of home here.

Notre Dame returns to the field this weekend as the Irish take on Miami in an ACC showdown series for the final three regular season games.

[listicle id=56034]