Tag: Notre Dame Fighting Irish Baseball

Notre Dame baseball gets on board first against Mississippi State

Early and often Irish!

The Irish didn’t wait for the game to get settled before putting a run on the board. Back-to-back singles put Notre Dame in great position, but a double-play seemed like the great start could be erased. Carter Putz has something to say about that however.

His RBI single scored Spencer Myers as the Irish struck first in the top of the first. This is important because of Notre Dame’s record when they score first, an impressive 24-3 this year.

Hopefully the history of scoring first holds true as the Irish are just getting this first game of their Super regional matchup against Mississippi State started.

Notre Dame baseball projected to get ousted in South Bend regional

Will it be a short stay in the NCAA’s for the Irish?

The Irish are fresh off a regular season which saw them atop the ACC only to fall in the pool finale against Virginia. They got great news earlier today, being named as the 10th overall seed in the NCAA tournament.

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Now the bad news, as 247Sports Robbie Weinstein has predicted the outcomes of each regional, and things don’t look great for the Irish ACC according to him.

This is the easiest upset pick in the bracket thanks to Michigan’s track record, particularly as it relates to the postseason. The Wolverines are used to pulling upsets in the postseason under coach Erik Bakich, and Notre Dame did not face a much better level of competition this season in a down year for the ACC.

As a former member of a college baseball team, literally anything can happen  in the NCAA tournament. It’s extremely similar to the basketball tournament, throw out the records and just play the game.

Although Michigan has the experience, the Irish will have something all weekend that the Wolverines, Connecticut and Central Michigan won’t have, playing in front of their home crowd.

I feel like that will be the factor that puts the Irish over the edge and the win their regional and advance to the super-regionals, one step closer to the college World Series.

Baseball: Irish fall short in finale, still takes series over Georgia Tech

Just missed a home series sweep

The first two games of the home series against Georgia Tech saw the Irish do what they have done all year, which was win. Unfortunately, Sunday’s final game of the series the bats came up short and so did Notre Dame, falling 4-2 to the Yellow Jackets.

It was a game-long battle with GT, as Tech jumped out to an early 1-0 lead only to see the Irish battle back and get ahead 2-1 after six inning. The Yellow Jackets then scored three unanswered runs, to get to the final tally.

Star first-baseman Niko Kavadas had two hits while right fielder Ryan Cole and shortstop Zack Prajzner each drove in a run.

Even though Sunday wasn’t a completion of a sweep, it was still a series win over a ranked opponent, GT was No. 14 coming into the weekend. One of two conference teams to have single-digit losses, Link Jarrett’s turnaround of the program has been spectacular.

The Irish get back on the field this Tuesday as they host Central Michigan during a mid-week contest.

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.

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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.

Baseball: Irish fall in series finale, still take series over Duke

It could have been worse…

[vertical-gallery id=26347]Notre Dame baseball’s seven-game winning streak came to an end this afternoon, as they could not complete the home sweep against Duke, falling 2-0.

The Irish just couldn’t get anything going offensively, as they has just one hit, by left fielder Ryan Cole. The outfielder also took a walk, as those were the only two base runners for Notre Dame in the losing effort.

Obviously, the Irish pitched well enough to get the win, but with the bats cold, at least they weren’t no-hit. The loss is just the third of the season, with 9 wins, Link Jarrett’s squad drops one spot to second in the Atlantic division behind leader Louisville who is 14-5 (7-2) on the year.

The turnaround is the quickest of the season, as Notre Dame finally plays a non-conference opponent on Tuesday, as the Irish welcome Valparaiso to South Bend.

Notre Dame baseball wins series opener at Virginia

The Irish stay hot and beat Virginia to begin the series

Heading into this weekends top 25 matchup against Virginia was going to be a big test for the Irish baseball team. After last nights 10-5 series opening win, which was the 3rd-in-a-row for Link Jarrett’s team, the national ranking has more than been justified.

Early on the contest went back and forth, with the Irish taking an early lead with Jared Miller’s 2-run homer to open up the scoring.

The Cavaliers would then storm back to score 4-runs in the bottom of the third to take the lead. The lead for the host team wouldn’t last long as a sacrifice fly by Jack Zyska then a Jack Brannigan single would tie the game and a Carter Putz single would give the Irish a 5-4 lead after the top of the 4th inning. Jarrett’s team wouldn’t trail for the rest of the game.

The Irish would then extend their lead on a Niko Kavadas solo homer, his 4th of the year.

Brook Coetzee would then hit a 3-run opposite field homer to give the Irish an ever bigger cushion, at 9-5 after the top of the 8th inning.

Kavadas would then double in the top of the 9th, brining in another run for the final tally. The win pushes the Irish’s record to 5-2 so far this year.

For the first time in the early portion of the season, the Irish have won the opening game of a series. They get back on the field this afternoon, as Notre Dame looks to take the series, which would be their 4th straight on the road dating back to last year.

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Notre Dame baseball drops series opener at Clemson

The Notre Dame baseball team drops their first game against host Clemson and looks to rebound this afternoon.

Last weekend against Wake Forest, the Irish baseball team dropped their first game of the series, but went on the take the final two. The same story could be brewing, as Notre Dame lost the series opener at Clemson 13-7.

The Tigers jumped out to an early 2-0 to see the Irish come back and tie the game in the top of the 5th but by the end of the inning, Clemson had retaken the lead which they would never relinquish. The 7-run outburst doomed the Irish, as they would get the score back to 9-6 after six innings.

Once again, the Tigers offense had a big inning, scoring 4 more runs in the bottom of the seventh. The Irish would add a run late, but it wasn’t enough as the Irish would even their record at 2-2.

The highlights for Link Jarrett’s team included this opposite-field home run by second-baseman Jared Miller.

And this fantastic catch by right fielder Brooks Coetzee.

The Irish continue their series against Clemson today at 3pm EST as John Michael Bertrand is set to start for Jarrett’s squad as they try and even up the series.

Shutout completes Notre Dame baseball’s upset of Wake Forest

The season opening series was a prosperous one for the Notre Dame baseball team, as they upset took the series 2-1 over No. 16 Wake Forest.

Coming into the first series of the year, there was a good amount of unknown surrounding the Irish baseball team.

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After this weekend, the ACC should be put on notice, as a 10-0 shutout of Wake Forest completed a series win for the Irish.

There was plenty to be happy about this weekend for second-year manager Link Jarrett, especially after the effort this afternoon. After dropping game 1 of the series, the Irish stormed back with with 15 runs in the final two games, while allowing just 4 for the Demon Deacons.

There were multiple stars in todays contest, but the biggest two where pitchers Christian Scafidi and Alex Rao. Obviously the shut out Wake Forest, but they combined to allow just 4 hits and 4 walks while striking out 7 batters.

Offensively, it was a two-headed monster of right fielder Brooks Coetzee and catcher David LaManna, as they drive in 8 total runs. LaManna and second baseman Jared Miller each had 3 hits to lead the team, while Coetzee and DH Carter Putz had 2 hits a piece.

The Irish don’t have a midweek game and will be back on the field on Friday as they visit Clemson for a three-game conference matchup.