Irish hurlers notch 40 Ks, help No. 4 ND go 2-1 in Hatter Classic

Notre Dame opened its 2022 baseball season with a pair of wins, showcased many of the elements coach Link Jarrett specifically had emphasized he wanted to see from his third Fighting Irish squad and won its first two games in dominant fashion.

Sunday, however, the Irish couldn’t string together enough hits at the plate nor effective enough relief pitching to sweep their trio of games at the Hatter Classic hosted by Stetson.

Delaware’s Aidan Kane belted a one-out, solo home run to right field to deny Notre Dame the unblemished weekend.

Still, after Jarrett had emphasized his Notre Dame pitching staff needed to amplify their strikeout numbers this season, they responded with 40 strikeouts in the 27 innings – an almost precise 1.5-per-inning strikeout mark.

Though it was against Atlantic Coast Conference foe Wake Forest a year ago in a three-game season-opening set, Notre Dame had just 28 whiffs through its first weekend in 2021.

The Fighting Irish offense likewise showcased an ability to manufacture runs, especially as Notre Dame throttled Manhattan Friday night to open the season. ND pounded out 19 hits and set the tone for a weekend in which the Irish tallied six stolen bases.

Here’s a look at the key elements of Notre Dame’s opening weekend. The Fighting Irish, ranked No. 4 as they entered the season, have scheduled a four-game weekend in Greenville, S.C., next weekend, with two games apiece against Marist and Monmouth.

GAME 1

ND 17, Manhattan 2

Aidan Tyrell followed up where he ended the 2021 season, nearly unhittable and at times overpowering as he got the season-opening start. The left-handed Tyrell fanned six in four innings, scattered three hits and did not allow a run. Liam Simon added three innings of no-hit, five-strikeout relief work.

At the plate, Brooks Coetzee opened with a 4-for-5 outing that included four RBIs and a pair of home runs.

Carter Putz added two hits and scored three runs; newcomer DM Jefferson stamped his arrival at Notre Dame with two hits, two runs, two RBIs and elicited a walk. Senior outfielder Jack Zyska added a homer and scored twice after entering the lineup midway through the game.

The Irish led 17-0 as they entered the ninth before Manhattan scratched across two runs that were charged to junior Gerry Peacock, who made his long-awaited Irish debut after injuries forced him to miss the abbreviated 2020 season and all of last year.

GAME 2

ND 5, Stetson 3

Resident workhorse John Michael Bertrand continued to be a model inning-eater, working six in his ’22 debut and not allowing a single earned run.

Bertrand, who led the staff with eight wins in 2021 and worked more than 90 innings, needed just 85 pitches – an average of less than 14 per frame – to mow through host Stetson’s lineup through six frames. Bertrand, one of five team captains, fanned eight.

In his Irish debut, Ryan McLinskey added six whiffs in three innings of relief.

Catcher and senior captain David LaManna roped a pair of hits, including a pivotal two-run-scoring knock in the fourth frame.

After it scored an unearned run in the first, Stetson became Notre Dame’s first come-from-behind win on the young season. The Irish led 5-1 as they entered the ninth; though hardly the offensive explosion from a day earlier against Manhattan, they showcased a greater aggressiveness on the basepaths with three different players recording stolen bases.

The Hatters committed four errors in the contest, but all but one of Notre Dame’s runs scored was earned. None of the three runs the Irish allowed was earned, though they committed just one error in the game.

GAME 3

DELWARE 5, ND 4

Austin Temple did about all he could in his Notre Dame debut on the mound. The transfer hurler worked five innings and whiffed nine Blue Hens batters in the early-Sunday morning finale of the Hatter Classic.

Temple didn’t allow a run through four innings as he notched seven of his nine strikeouts in those frames; Delaware still trailed 3-2 when Temple exited after five innings.

Notre Dame tacked on another run in the sixth for a 4-2 edge, but the Blue Hens (1-2) quickly drew even against reliever Roman Kimball, one of the Irish’s most heralded newcomers. Kimball was charged with two runs after he faced just two batters.

Caden Aoki worked the final three-plus innings for the Irish, and seemed to have the game on the verge of extra innings after he recorded the first out of the ninth. But Kane’s shot beyond the wall abruptly ended the game.

Notre Dame was limited to just six hits in the contest, two of them as well as two RBIs delivered by Putz. Irish pitchers struck out a dozen Blue Hens, and Notre Dame at the plate whiffed just twice.

But the Irish could not string together enough hits to avoid a disappointing end to the weekend.