Tag: Niko Kavadas

No. 3 Notre Dame baseball closes regular season with sweep of Virginia Tech

Nothing like a sweep to close the regular season!

The No.3 Notre Dame baseball team closed the 2021 regular season on a high note as the Irish swept Virginia Tech in three-straight in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Saturday’s dominating 7-1 Fighting Irish victory put a bow on a regular season that saw the team go 29-10 overall and a league-best 25-10 in ACC play.

Pitchers Joe Sheridan, Alex Rao and Will Mercer allowed just one run combined on Saturday.

Notre Dame’s bats were a bit slow to get started but trailing 1-0 in the fifth inning, Spencer Myers had a two-run double before a Niko Kavadas RBI single put the Irish up 3-1.

David LaManna and Kavadas would each homer in the ninth inning to extend the Notre Dame lead to the final 7-1 score.

The Irish now turn to the postseason as they’ll be the top overall seed in the 2021 ACC Tournament in Charlotte where they’ll begin pool play on Tuesday with Virginia and Virginia Tech both being in their pool

No. 3 Notre Dame baseball closes regular season with sweep of Virginia Tech

Nothing like a sweep to close the regular season!

The No.3 Notre Dame baseball team closed the 2021 regular season on a high note as the Irish swept Virginia Tech in three-straight in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Saturday’s dominating 7-1 Fighting Irish victory put a bow on a regular season that saw the team go 29-10 overall and a league-best 25-10 in ACC play.

Pitchers Joe Sheridan, Alex Rao and Will Mercer allowed just one run combined on Saturday.

Notre Dame’s bats were a bit slow to get started but trailing 1-0 in the fifth inning, Spencer Myers had a two-run double before a Niko Kavadas RBI single put the Irish up 3-1.

David LaManna and Kavadas would each homer in the ninth inning to extend the Notre Dame lead to the final 7-1 score.

The Irish now turn to the postseason as they’ll be the top overall seed in the 2021 ACC Tournament in Charlotte where they’ll begin pool play on Tuesday with Virginia and Virginia Tech both being in their pool

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.

Epic comeback gives Irish win in opener vs. Georgia Tech

“Don’t call it a comeback” – LL Cool J

“Don’t call it a comeback!” – LL Cool J

Trailing 7-0 after 3 1/2 innings of play on Friday evening at Eck Stadium it sure looked like No. 12 Notre Dame was headed towards a series-opening loss to No. 14 Georgia Tech.

Kind of like the fight song goes though, “what tho the odds be great or small, old Notre Dame will win overall”.

And that’s exactly what wound up happening in a wild one to open the series against the Yellow Jackets.

“That is one of the greatest team wins I have ever been a part of,” said head coach Link Jarrett. “I have coached for a while and played for a while, I can’t remember anything like that.”

Trailing 7-2 in the bottom of the seventh the Irish used a pair of home runs from Jack Branniagan (solo) and Niko Kavadas (two-run) to get Notre Dame back within one.

Georgia Tech came back with two more of their own in the top-half of the eighth but the Irish again rallied in the bottom half of the inning, capping it with a Carter Putz walk with the bases loaded to give Notre Dame their first lead at 10-9.

Joe Sheridan then pitched his second inning of work to finish of the Yellow Jackets in the ninth.  Sheridan was one of eight pitchers the Irish used in their epic victory.

Notre Dame improves to 14-5 overall and 13-5 in ACC play while Georgia Tech falls to 14-11 overall and 11-8 in the conference.

Baseball: Notre Dame getting midseason recognition

Getting the respect they deserve

The baseball season is just about halfway through and the Irish have established themselves as one of the best teams in the conference and in the country. With many outlets looking back at this seasons accomplishments, projections for the rest of the year are coming out. Take a look below at some of the recognition the Irish are getting.

Baseball: Notre Dame takes game 1 in Pittsburgh behind Kavadas’ HR

Game 1 belonged to the Irish

The season Notre Dame first baseman Niko Kavadas is having is one for the ages. The Irish slugger after connecting on yet another long ball, now has 11 homers on the season, good for the ACC lead and top-4 nationally. The long fly was one of two the Irish hit en-route to a 4-1 opening series road victory against Pittsburgh.

Back to Kavadas, the lefty is inside the top-10 nationally in slugging, has been on his game all year.

It’s not just about the deep fly’s, Kavadas is second on the team in on-base percentage, and runs while leading the team in RBI’s, total bases, slugging, walks and obviously home runs. As the Irish continue to be among the top teams in the country, more and more recognition will go to Notre Dame’s star.

Kavadas wasn’t the only player to have an impact yesterday, as the pitching trio of Will Mercer, Tanner Kohlhepp and Joe Sheridan combined for 7 strike-outs, three walks, five hits and just one run.

Offensively, Carter Putz put one over the fences as well.

The Irish get back on the field today for game 2 of the series, as they look to lock up the series.

Kavadas goes off, Notre Dame baseball gets back in the win column

One was not enough for Kavadas

It was the first time all year that the Notre Dame baseball team faced a midweek opponent, Valparaiso, and after their 7-game winning streak was snapped on Sunday, the Irish got back to their winning ways today.

The 6-3 defeat of Valpo saw the Irish’s biggest star shinning bright. First baseman Niko Kavadas hit two homers, upping his season total to 9 on the year. His first long ball gave the Irish the lead in the bottom of the 4th inning.

Kavadas’ second blast was in the bottom of the 7th, to extend the Irish lead to 5-3.

It was a back an forth battle for the Irish, as they jumped out to a 2-0 lead after four innings then Valpo answered with three runs in the top of the 5th to take a 3-2 advantage heading into the sixth. Link Jarrett’s team then played small ball in the bottom of the frame, with Jack Brannigan dropping a sacrifice bunt to bring Ryan Cole in to score to tie the game.

https://twitter.com/ndbaseball/status/1374496594075082752?s=21

Carter Putz singled home Brooks Coetzee to give the Irish the lead later in the inning.

The second Kavadas homer and a Cole sac-fly would cap the scoring as Notre Dame’s bullpen would close out the rest of the game. The win improves their record to 10-3. Even though it’s not as impressive as their start last year, 11-2, it’s still good enough for the Irish to get national recognition coming into the game.

The Irish next hit the diamond this weekend, as they welcome in Louisville for a three-game series that begins on Friday afternoon.

Make it 7 straight wins for Notre Dame baseball

Don’t look now but a certain school is sitting well-atop the ACC standings…

Make it a perfect four-for-four in terms of series wins for Notre Dame baseball this season as the Irish used a five-run sixth inning on Saturday to clinch the weekend series with Duke.

Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth, Niko Kavadas hit his third home run in as many games and seventh on the season to put Notre Dame in front, 4-2.

A few batters later it was Friday night’s hero, Ryan Cole, hitting an inside-the-park home run to stretch Notre Dame’s lead to 6-2.

John Michael Bertrand did the rest, pitching a complete game and surrendering just two runs, and mostly scattering five hits throughout.

The win was Notre Dame’s seventh in a row and puts them atop the ACC at 9-2 overall.

You can watch the Irish go for the sweep on Sunday afternoon as they wrap their home-opening series with Duke at 2 p.m. ET on ACC Network.

Watch: Notre Dame baseball’s walk-off homer ends home opener

Tough to have a better way to finish the home opener…

Notre Dame baseball has started the 2021 season appearing to have been shot out of a cannon as they won each of their first three series and seven of nine games overall.

Finally on Friday the 15th ranked Irish were able to start their home schedule as they welcomed Duke to town for a weekend series.

After Niko Kavadas tied the game at four with a two-run home run in the sixth inning, the Irish slugger doubled to the start of Notre Dame’s half of the 13th with the game still knotted at four.

Catcher David LaManna did his job getting Kavadas to third base with less than two outs and needing a ball to just be hit to the outfield to win it, Ryan Cole did even more as his first career home run walked off the Blue Devils.

Will Mercer started the game on the mound for Notre Dame but didn’t have his best night as he allowed three runs in 3.1 innings pitched.  Notre Dame’s bullpen picked up the rest of the squad, however, allowing just one run over the final 9.2 innings of action.

Joe Sheridan had a valiant effort in relief, going 6.1 innings and allowing just one run.

The win moves the Irish to an ACC-best 8-2 on the season and has them looking what would be their fourth-straight series win to start the year and potentially sixth-straight series win dating back to 2020 with a win either of the next two days.

Notre Dame and Duke resume action on Saturday with the first pitch set for 2 p.m. ET at Frank Eck Stadium.