Still streaking: Irish baseball yet to lose series since 2019
First place is mere percentage points.
No team has more Atlantic Coast Conference wins.
Notre Dame baseball? Time to drop the guard. This is no fluke.
The Fighting Irish absolutely are for real; another series victory in ACC play – that's six series wins and one split dating to last year – reinforces their legitimacy.
Adjusting for weather, the No. 14-ranked are preparing to host top-10 Georgia Tech this weekend at Eck Stadium after taking two of three at Pittsburgh, including Monday's series-clinching 11-5 win.
“Pitt is a very good team,” Irish skipper Link Jarrett said in ND's release, “and we were fortunate to leave town with a series win.”
Irish Sports Daily recaps Notre Dame's latest series triumph, which moves the Irish to 12-5 in ACC play and 13-5 overall.
GAME 3
Playing Monday for the first time all season, the Irish belted four home runs – showing depth in the lineup as none of the blasts in this game came from Niko Kavadas – and overpowered the host Panthers (13-10, 9-9 ACC).
Kavadas still had a crucial, bases-loaded hit to drive in two runs and giving him a team-leading 28 on the year.
Jack Brannigan, Spencer Myers and Zack Prajzner all cranked solo blasts while Carter Putz had a three-run homer in the fifth.
The Irish used five pitchers, getting an effective opening from Aidan Tyrell and 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief from Tanner Kohlhepp as he earned the win. Dominic Cancellieri notched the final eight outs of the game. He allowed just one run and fanned four batters.
GAME 2
John Michael Bertrand had the mound for the Irish in the middle tilt, and, per usual, it meant runs were at a premium.
Bertrand worked 7 1/3 innings, allowed just a single earned run and fanned seven Pitt batters. Oh, he lowered his ERA to a scant 3.07 for the season in the process. Bertrand has worked 41 innings on the year – almost twice that of any other Irish hurler – and fanned 33 batters.
Ryan Cole was 3-for-4 at the plate and, along with Prajzner, drove in a run.
Tied at 1-all in the bottom of the eighth, the Panthers scratched across two runs and escaped the ninth with only one run allowed to gain their lone win in the series.
GAME 1
The Fighting Irish staked themselves to a 2-0 lead in the fourth, as both Kavadas and Putz belted solo blasts.
Notre Dame then polished off the win with two more runs in the ninth, its 4-0 lead at that point insurmountable for the Panthers.
That's now 11 homers in 60 at-bats for Kavadas, who's hitting .333 on the season and has 56 total bases. Putz now is one of four members of the Irish lineup with double-digit RBIs.
Kohlhepp earned the win in relief of Will Mercer, who started the game and worked four scoreless innings. Joe Sheridan pitched the eighth and ninth innings; he allowed just one run on two hits and earned his second save of the season in the process.
The Fighting Irish are again set to only appear on ACC Network Extra this weekend when they host the Yellow Jackets (14-9), who dropped six spots in this week's USA Today Coaches Poll to No. 16. The series opens Friday at 5 p.m.
