Game Thread | (G3) NC State at Notre Dame

NC State (31-15, 10-13) at Notre Dame (26-18, 14-12) 

When: May 6th

Time: 2:00 PM ET 

Where: Frank Eck Stadium | South Bend, Ind.

Watch: ACC Network Extra 

QUICK FACTS

- NC State leads the all-time series 14-13. 

- The Irish are 9-5 at home against the Wolfpack. 

- Notre Dame has won the last three series against NC State. 

- The weekend series will be the final home ACC series for Notre Dame this season.

- Notre Dame took game one 9-7 on Thursday evening and NC State won game two 5-1 on Friday.

PROBABLE STARTERS

Saturday

OFFENSIVE STATS (Entering the series)

PITCHING STATS (Entering the series) 

- After an offensive battle on Thursday night, Notre Dame and NC State got into a battle on the mound on Friday evening before the Wolfpack pulled away late. Notre Dame RHP Blake Hely had another strong showing as he went 7.1 innings giving up six hits, four runs, two walks and seven strikeouts on 105 pitches. The bad news for Notre Dame was NC State starter Matt Willadsen was on fire as he allowed just one run on six hits while striking out nine in 6.2 innings. 

NC State third baseman, LuJames Groover III, was the difference in game two as he went 2-for-4 with 3 RBI, including a home run and a double. Groover is considered a Top 55 MLB Draft prospect, so the Irish will need a plan for him on Saturday despite striking him out twice on Friday. 

- Notre Dame’s offense managed just six hits and only one was an extra base hit. Vinny Martinez recorded a double and popped his season batting average to .305 and is one of the hottest bats in the country over the last month. 

The irish need more from TJ Williams (0-for-3), Carter Putz (0-for-3) and Jack Penney (0-for-4) in game three. Putz been steady the whole year, but Williams needs to find ways to get on base. The seven hole was also a problem for Notre Dame on Friday as DM Jefferson and Brady Gumpf combined to go 0-for-3 with three strikeouts. 

- Neither team has announced a starting pitcher for Saturday, so it’s hard to project how game three might go, but Notre Dame will need to cut down the strikeouts as the Irish went down 11 times on Friday. 

My guess is RHP Carter Bosch (1-1, 5.92) will get the starting nod, but Shawn Stiffler mentioned RHP Jackson Dennies (0-2, 2.80) could return to action this weekend after missing the last two series. Stiffler also mentioned he was going to be careful so stealing a couple innings in relief might be on the table more than a start for Dennies. Freshman Caden Spivey will also be ready to go and LHP Will Mercer could probably be available if needed as he threw one inning on Thursday night. RHP Matt Bedford was active in the pen on Friday, so he could also be an arm on the table pending how hard he warmed up. 

Saturday’s game will be extremely important for ACC Tournament seeding and beyond as only 12 teams make the conference tourney. NC State was one of the last five teams projected to make the tourney by D1Baseball this week, so there will be plenty of motivation from the Wolfpack to steal a road series. 

Notre Dame Lineup

NC State Lineup

Notre Dame Fighting Irish Classic Jacquard Polo