Game Thread | (G1) Notre Dame at UAB

Notre Dame (3-3) at UAB (3-5) 

When: March 3rd

Time: 5:00 PM ET 

Where: Young Memorial Field | Birmingham, Ala. 

Watch: Conference USA TV

QUICK FACTS

- Notre Dame leads the all-time series over UAB 3-1. 

- The Irish won the last matchup against UAB 9-3 in February of 2020 and took the series 2-1. 

- Carter Putz batted .400 last weekend as he tallied four hits and scored three runs against UNCG.

- LHP Jack Findlay leads the Irish with 12 strikeouts in 6.1 IP, which is No. 23 in the ACC, but just seven behind the conference leader Josh Hartle (19). 

- Clemson (4-4) and Notre Dame sit at .500 on the year while every other ACC program is no worse than two games over .500. 

PROBABLE STARTERS

Friday 

Saturday 

Sunday 

WHAT TO WATCH 

- The series between UAB and Notre Dame will come down to offense. Both teams have struggled greatly over the first two weeks of the season as the Blazers have scored 35 runs while the Irish have crossed the plate 27 times. 

To break it down even further (UAB 8 games/Notre Dame 6 games): 

Home Runs
Notre Dame: 3
UAB: 1

Hits
Notre Dame: 31
UAB: 53

Doubles
Notre Dame: 7
UAB: 7

Triples
Notre Dame: 0 
UAB: 1 

Team Batting Average
Notre Dame: .163
UAB: .211

The good news is Notre Dame found some offense last weekend as the Irish found contact and got on base more frequently than in the opening weekend at Lipscomb. The Irish have seven batters batting over .200 and are led by DM Jefferson (.286) and Brooks Coetzee (.263). 

The key will be to find a way to get freshman 2B Estevan Moreno and 3B Jack Penney going this weekend. Moreno is experiencing the normal growing pains adjusting to college baseball as he’s batting .067 (1-for-15), but he did almost hit two home runs a week ago. Penney’s early season slump has been a bit more surprising as he’s batting just .050 (1-for-20),  but his lone hit is one of Notre Dame’s three home runs. 

- On the mound, Notre Dame has been good, but they’ve needed to be great given the struggles at the plate. LHP Aiden Tyrell and LHP Will Mercer have been impressive after two weekends. Both hold an ERA of 0.00 in 10.0 combined innings. 

Sophomore LHP Jack Findlay has been solid as he leads the team with 12 strikeouts, but he’s also hit four batters in 6.1 innings. It’s not a point of long-term concern as Findlay showed his elite talent last spring, yet he’ll need to show more command moving forward. 

Notre Dame won’t make changes to its starting rotation other than switching the days of starts. It’s a little surprising given some of the struggles to get more than three innings, but the Irish do have a shortage of lefty arms on the roster.

- LF/DH Jack Zyska missed last weekend’s series due to injury and no update has been provided. 

Notre Dame Lineup

UAB Lineup

Notre Dame Fighting Irish Clean Up Logo Adjustable Hat