Tag: Shawn Stiffler

Notre Dame baseball lands a commitment from California pitcher Jackson Campbell

The Irish add a big-time arm to their 2026 class

Notre Dame baseball is having themselves a great start to the recruiting cycle for the 2026 class.

They added to their class on Thursday with a commitment from California pitcher [autotag]Jackson Campbell[/autotag]. The Mater Dei star stands 6-foot, 3-inches and weighs 200-pounds.

He also plays football for the powerhouse, but will stick to the diamond when he moves to the collegiate level. Campbell’s fastball sits around 88 miles-per-hour, while he also has a great slider. He has a solid curveball and change-up as well, and could also play outfield if pitching doesn’t work out for him.

Notre Dame head coach [autotag]Shawn Stiffler[/autotag] has to be extremely happy with Campbell’s commitment, as there typically isn’t as much of a learning curve for players that come out of his region.

Check out the time-lapse video of Notre Dame baseball getting new turf
Notre Dame and Western Michigan stand for the national anthem Tuesday, March 19, 2024, at Frank Eck Stadium.

According to Perfect Game, the Irish currently have five commitments in the 2026 class.

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Notre Dame baseball lands huge commitment from 2026 Illinois pitcher

The Irish land a big pitching commitment

It’s extremely common for high school baseball players to make early commitments, and Notre Dame was on the winning end of one of those decisions on Friday.

Illinois 2026 right-handed pitcher [autotag]Connor Elenteny[/autotag] made his pledge to the Irish on Thursday night, giving head coach [autotag]Shawn Stiffler[/autotag] an elite arm in the class. The 6-foot, 3-inch and 193-pound star has maxed out his fastball at 93 miles-per-hour, while his secondary stuff is just as impressive.

Elenteny has a four pitch-mix as he also features a change-up, curveball and slider that are all quality pitches. According to Prep Baseball Report, he is the No. 8 player in the state.

Notre Dame has done a great job recruiting the state of Illinois, as there are eight players on the roster who prepped in the Land of Lincoln. You can now add Elenteny to that list.

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Notre Dame baseball adds Lucas Jones to its coaching staff

Welcome to Irish Nation Lucas!

During his first two seasons with Notre Dame baseball, [autotag]Shawn Stiffler[/autotag] has led the Irish to a 57-49 record.

He knows this isn’t good enough for the program and with that made a move on Thursday to bolster his coaching staff. [autotag]Lucas Jones[/autotag] was hired as an assistant coach as he will help on the infield along with base-running.

Jones previously was at the University of Lynchburg, where he had been the head coach since 2017. He was extremely successful in his tenure, as he was named the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2021.  In 2023, Jones guided his team to a National Championship.

The hope is that Jones experience will help the Irish get over the hump and return back to the NCAA Tournament.

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Former Arkansas State right-handed pitcher transfers to Notre Dame

Best of luck to the newest member of the Irish.

Starting right-handed pitcher [autotag]Dylan Heine[/autotag] has decided he’s not done with college baseball. In an announcement on social media, Heine, who entered the transfer portal only a week earlier because of a coaching change at Arkansas State, said he’s taking his talents to Notre Dame:

Heine, who pitched one season with the Red Wolves after three seasons at Rider, is coming off a year in which he went 2-2 with a 4.65 ERA in 62 innings over 14 starts. He struck out 30 batters while walking 26.

That showing would have been acceptable with the 2024 Irish, who had a team ERA of 5.89. Their two main starters, [autotag]Jack Radel[/autotag] and [autotag]Matt Bedford[/autotag], had respective ERAs of 4.58 and 4.65. They combined to go 7-9.

During his collegiate career, Heine has accumulated an 8-9 record to go with a 4.77 ERA. However, he’s coming off a season in which he led the Sun Belt and tied for sixth nationally with 21 hit batters, nearly tripling the number he had at Rider. [autotag]Shawn Stiffler[/autotag] and his staff will have their work cut out for them in that area.

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Notre Dame baseball has multiple players enter the transfer portal

The Irish see more than a few players enter the portal

After a disappointing 2023 [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] baseball season, the Irish are seeing multiple players enter the transfer portal as the NCAA Tournament is set to start later in the week.

After two consecutive seasons making the tournament, last year making the College World Series, head coach Link Jarrett left for his alma mater, Florida State. [autotag]Shawn Stiffler[/autotag] was brought in to replace Jarrett and guided his team to a 30-24 overall record while being 15-15 in ACC play.

It wasn’t enough to make the tourney and just today, multiple players have entered the transfer portal. Find out below which Notre Dame baseball players will move on.

Bubble bursts for Notre Dame; season ends without NCAA Tournament bid

No magical run this year.

A year ago, Notre Dame was sitting high and mighty as it made the College World Series. This year, a trip to Omaha will not be in the cards. In fact, the Irish’s season is over after they were not included in the NCAA Tournament bracket, which was unveiled Monday. In fact, D1Baseball listed the Irish as the fourth team out of the tournament in its final projections.

While 30-24 wasn’t a bad record for first-year coach [autotag]Shawn Stiffler[/autotag] and his staff, the season ultimately was a disappointment. The Irish had their fate in their own hands but lost five of their last six games, the last two of which came during the ACC Tournament. That is not the impression you want to leave the selection committee when it’s making its final decision.

The time has come for the Irish to learn from their sloppy finish and come back stronger next year. Until then, it’s going to be a long offseason.

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Notre Dame regular season comes to rough end against Boston College

Not a great night in Beantown.

BOSTON — Notre Dame didn’t plan on losing twice to Boston College in two different locations in one day, but it happened. With wet weather anticipated Saturday in Boston, the game scheduled for that day was moved up to Friday afternoon. The Irish lost that game, 7-2, and they hoped a shift in venues from that first game also would shift their luck. It didn’t happen in an 8-4 defeat at Fenway Park that closed the regular season.

The Irish (30-22, 15-15) ran into early trouble when Joe Vetrano put the Eagles (34-17, 16-14) on top in the first inning with a two-out, two-run homer to left-center. [autotag]Zack Prajzner[/autotag] got the Irish in the hit column with a leadoff double in the fourth, then scored on a [autotag]Vinny Martinez[/autotag] RBI single. That 2-1 score was as close as the Irish would get the rest of the evening.

After [autotag]Jackson Dennies[/autotag] pitched well for five innings, striking out six and walking nobody, [autotag]Caden Spivey[/autotag] relieved him in the sixth, and that’s when the wheels fell off. The Eagles lit Spivey up for six runs, three of which came on Vetrano’s second home run of the game, this one a three-run blast to right. Ten Eagles came to the plate in the frame, and Spivey recorded only two outs before [autotag]Shawn Stiffler[/autotag] gave him the hook.

If the Eagles’ offense hadn’t exploded, starting pitcher John West might have beat the Irish by himself. Over seven-plus innings, he gave up three hits despite striking out only four. Two of the three runs he allowed came during an eighth inning in which the Irish benefited from walks, hit batsmen and a wild pitch. He exited to an ovation after putting the Irish’s first two hitters on base in that inning.

The Irish did get one more run in the ninth on a pinch-hit home run by [autotag]Nick Juaire[/autotag], but all that did was make the game look closer than it was. The focus for Irish fans by that point was the ACC Tournament, which begins Tuesday in Durham. Between losing twice to the Eagles and the earlier loss this week to Northwestern at Wrigley Field, the Irish likely will need to win it or at least get to the title game to have a shot at the NCAA Tournament. Get those prayer circles going.

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Notre Dame baseball falls 5-4 against Lipscomb

Game one didn’t result in their first win but tomorrow is another day

This wasn’t the way new [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] head coach [autotag]Shawn Stiffler[/autotag] envisioned opening the season: losing to Lipscomb, 5-4. It was a difficult go for the Irish hitters, who mustered one hit all afternoon.

The hit was a big one. Outfielder [autotag]TJ Williams[/autotag] blasted a two-run homer in the top of the fifth. The offense showed some life late, putting two runners on in the ninth. Both advanced and scored on wild pitches. With two outs, Zack Prajzner walked and Williams came to the plate. He struck out to end the game.

It wasn’t easy on Irish pitchers either. Both starter [autotag]Blake Hely[/autotag] and reliever [autotag]Jack Findlay[/autotag] gave up multiple runs.

Hely lasted three innings, giving up three runs while striking out just one. Findlay came in to relieve him. While he had his strikeout pitches working, fanning seven, he gave up two runs in his three innings.

The Irish try again for win No. 1 of the year on Saturday, 3 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

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Watch: Notre Dame baseball coach Shawn Stiffler visits class

Put me in, Coach. I’m ready to play.

Last year, former Notre Dame basketball coach [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] popped up in random places around campus. It was part of an effort on his part to get students out to his team’s games. With Brey having departed though, someone in the athletic department needs to pick up the slack. Apparently, that someone is first-year baseball coach [autotag]Shawn Stiffler[/autotag], who crashed a finance class and was there to do more than just promote this weekend’s three-game series against North Carolina:

If this isn’t an invitation to literally everyone on campus to come to baseball practice, I don’t know what is. After watching this, I wonder if he would let me take batting practice even though I’m not enrolled at or employed by the university and I haven’t swung a bat in a long time.

I didn’t know I needed this to happen in my life, but I think I do now. Coach, if you’re reading this, mind if I make the two-hour drive to South Bend so this lefty hitter can continuously pull the ball weakly to the right?

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WATCH: Notre Dame Baseball coach Shawn Stiffler mic’d up at practice

The team looks relaxed and ready

The [autotag]Notre Dame Baseball[/autotag] team is a month away from first pitch, but it seems like first-year head coach [autotag]Shawn Stiffler[/autotag] is already in mid-season form. The initial season from the new Irish coach should be very telling as to where the program is headed.

The team under [autotag]Link Jarrett[/autotag] went 86-32 during two full seasons and the shortened COVID-19 2020 campaign. One can argue that was the greatest stretch ever for Notre Dame Baseball, even though it was short-lived.

When Jarrett opted to return to his alma mater, [autotag]Florida State[/autotag], he left a massive hole that Stiffler is expected to fill. The new Irish coach seems like a very likable leader and his record at [autotag]VCU[/autotag] was very impressive at 352-207.

If the Irish play as loose as they seem in this video of Stiffler mic’d up, then it should bode very well for the first season with him as the head coach.

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