Game Thread | (G1) No. 13 North Carolina at Notre Dame
No. 13 North Carolina (18-7, 4-3) at Notre Dame (4-5, 13-9)
When: March 31st
Time: 3:00 PM ET
Where: Frank Eck Stadium | South Bend, Ind.
Watch: ACC Network Extra
QUICK FACTS
- Notre Dame leads the all-time series 12-7.
- The Irish are 7-2 against the Tar Heels at Frank Eck.
- UNC topped the Irish in the ACC Tournament a year ago 7-2.
- Notre Dame swept the last series against North Carolina in 2021.
PROBABLE STARTERS
| SCHOOL | NAME | RECORD (APPEARANCES) | ERA | IP | STRIKEOUTS |
| North Carolina | RHP Max Carlson | 1-1 | 6.11 | 28.0 | 32 |
| Notre Dame | RHP Blake Hely | 1-1 | 3.63 | 22.1 | 18 |
WHAT TO WATCH
- Notre Dame has benefited from the midweek slate so far in 2023 as the Irish are now 4-0 following Tuesday’s 4-0 win over Butler. The midweek games have not only given the Irish a notch in the win column, but allowed the Irish to get meaningful game reps across the board.
Carter Putz has found a nice groove over the last two weeks as he’s now batting .291 with four home runs, 16 RBI and 23 hits on the year.
The Irish offense still needs to find itself as they haven’t scored double-digit runs in eight games, so there is still a significant amount of pressure on the pitching staff to keep the runs down.
- It may sound like a broken record at this point, but Shawn Stiffler is still searching for a lead-off option as no one has taken a firm hold of the position. TJ Williams is the most natural fit there, but he’s struggled at the plate batting just .178. Jack Penney has also been at the top of the order quite a bit and he hasn’t produced much more as the sophomore is batting .189. Could DM Jefferson be an option as the DH as he’s batting .212, which isn’t much better.
- The good news for Notre Dame is the pitching staff has kept the runs down as Jackson Dennies, Jack Findlay, Blake Hely and Aidan Tyrell all have pitched over 20 innings and have an ERA under 4.00. Will Mercer (3.38 ERA), Carter Bosch (0.87) and Caden Spivey (1.00) have all pitched nine or more innings and kept their ERA down too.
- It might seem like Notre Dame is playing with fire as they rely so much on pitching, but that might just be the makeup the 2023 team. The emergence of Spivey has been fascinating to watch as the freshman got the last three outs on Tuesday on just seven pitches. There is a lot of confidence there.
- The Tar Heels enter the series in the middle of the pack in just about every ACC offensive category, but home runs and walks. North Carolina is tied for the ACC lead in home runs with 51 and is second in walks at 156.
North Carolina is much the same on the mound as the Tar Heels rank in the middle of the conference in most pitching stats.
OFFENSIVE STATS (Entering the series)
| STAT | North Carolina | Notre Dame |
| Batting Avg. | .298 | .211 |
| Runs | 220 | 111 |
| Hits | 258 | 149 |
| 2B | 58 | 27 |
| 3B | 3 | 3 |
| Home Runs | 51 | 19 |
| RBI | 205 | 101 |
| SLG% | .548 | .339 |
| Walks | 156 | 84 |
| Hit by Pitch | 43 | 45 |
| Strikeouts | 173 | 205 |
| OB% | .426 | .331 |
PITCHING STATS (Entering the series)
| STAT | North Carolina | Notre Dame |
| ERA | 3.93 | 4.36 |
| Hits | 192 | 167 |
| Runs | 119 | 112 |
| ER | 97 | 92 |
| Walks | 101 | 80 |
| Strikeouts | 239 | 191 |
| Opponent Batting Avg. | .226 | .233 |
Notre Dame Lineup
| NAME | POSITION | BATTING AVERAGE |
| Jack Penney | 3B | .189 |
| Zack Prajzner | SS | .284 |
| Jack Zyska | DH | .143 |
| Carter Putz | 1B | .291 |
| Brooks Coetzee | RF | .250 |
| Vinny Martinez | C | .097 |
| Brady Gumpf | LF | .143 |
| Estevan Moreno | 2B | .143 |
| TJ Williams | CF | .178 |
North Carolina Lineup
| NAME | POSITION | BATTING AVERAGE |
| Vance Honeycutt | CF | .270 |
| Mac Horvath | RF | .294 |
| Jackson Van De Brake | 2B | .361 |
| Tomas Frick | C | .354 |
| Johnny Castagnozzi | 3B | .349 |
| Casey Cook | LF | .313 |
| Alberto Osuna | DH | .234 |
| Hunter Stokely | 1B | .305 |
| Colby Wilkerson | SS | .293 |
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