Series statement: Notre Dame baseball opens in style
Just like that, Notre Dame baseball is back turning heads in the Atlantic Coast Conference – and throughout the sport.
Again opening its diamond campaign on the road, Notre Dame took two of three games this weekend at No. 16 Wake Forest to once again stamp itself as a program on the rise in arguably college baseball's top conference.
The Fighting Irish (2-1, 2-1 ACC) scored in the first inning in all three games and combined to outscore their hosts in those openers by a combined 9-0.
It was not quite one year ago when the Fighting Irish swept past perennial power North Carolina as part of a seven-game winning streak and overall 11-2 start to the Link Jarrett era.
In winning the final two games against the Demon Deacons (3-4, 1-2 ACC) – and leading in all three games in the series, the Irish got a blend of strong starting pitching, timely extra-base hits and highly effective work from the bullpen.
Niko Kavadas closed the weekend 4-for-12, with five runs and five RBIS.
Here's a look at how Notre Dame started its season off with a crucial series victory in the first of 12 weekend sets against ACC foes:
GAME 3
Notre Dame 10, No. 16 Wake Forest 0
The Fighting Irish closed the weekend set by holding the host Demon Deacons scoreless for their final 14 innings.
After failing to hold down a comfortable lead in the series opening, Notre Dame's bullpen stood especially strong over the final two contests.
In the finale, the Irish first got a strong starting effort from Christian Scafidi, who didn't allow a run and yielded just three hits in 4 1/3 innings of work. He struck out four and threw 75 pitches, before he turned things over to Alex Rao.
Rao was even slightly more efficient; he permitted just one hit and struck out three on 66 pitches to earn the save.
At the plate, catcher David LaManna and Brooks Coetzee carried the offensive load as they paired to drive in eight of the Irish's 10 runs.
LaManna banged out three hits and drove in three runs; Coetzee delivered five runs on a pair of hits.
GAME 2
ND 5, No. 16 WAKE 4
The Irish opened with a four-run first-inning explosion, tacked on an additional run in the seventh to break a 4-all tie and held Wake off the board for the final five innings to notch their first win of the season.
The mega-shot was Alex Brait's first-inning grand slam that set the tone for Notre Dame to bounce back from its hard-luck opening loss.
Spencer Myers and Jared Miller helped set the table for the Irish offense; the Nos. 1 and 2 hitters combined to go 5-for-10; pinch-hitting, LaManna walked and scored a run in his only plate appearance.
On the mound, Liam Simon and Aidan Tyrell combined for 5 2/3 scoreless innings of two-hit, five-strikeout work in relief of starter John Michael Bertrand. Tyrell earned the save after he worked the final two scoreless frames.
GAME 1
No. 16 WF 10, ND 8
Niko Kavadas continued to mash as he left off in 2020; the Irish slugger belted two home runs in the season-opening tilt.
Kavadas helped stake Notre Dame to a 2-0 lead in the first with his two-run shot and later added a three-run blast.
Tommy Sheehan, who opened the 2020 season 3-0 on the hill with a 2.70 ERA and garnered an ACC Pitcher of the Week award along the way, debuted in this campaign in a similar fashion.
Sheehan worked four innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts and three walks. The Notre Dame ace threw 47 of 88 pitches for strikes.
It was the late innings that proved to be the Irish's unraveling in the opener. They led 7-2 going into the bottom of the seventh inning, when the Demon Deacons struck for eight of their 10 runs in the seventh and eighth innings against Will Mercer and Tanner Kohlhepp.