Game Thread | Notre Dame at Rice
Notre Dame (0-0) at Rice (0-0)
When: February 16th
Time: 7:30 PM ET
Where: Reckling Park | Houston, Texas
Watch: ESPN+
QUICK FACTS
- Notre Dame is 1-1 all-time against Rice
- The Irish won 5-3 in an elimination game in the 2022 College World Series before losing 9-0 in 2009
- Rice has lost the last five season openers
- Notre Dame will have 19 new faces on the roster this season, which includes 10 freshmen and nine graduate transfers
- Irish head coach Shawn Stiffler enters the 2024 campaign with an all-time record of 370-222
PROBABLE STARTERS
FRIDAY
| SCHOOL | NAME | RECORD (APPEARANCES) | ERA | IP | STRIKEOUTS |
| Notre Dame | RHP Caden Spivey | - | - | - | - |
| Rice | RHP Parker Smith | - | - | - | - |
SATURDAY
| SCHOOL | NAME | RECORD (APPEARANCES) | ERA | IP | STRIKEOUTS |
| Notre Dame | RHP Jackson Dennies | - | - | - | - |
| Rice | LHP JD McCracken | - | - | - | - |
SUNDAY
| SCHOOL | NAME | RECORD (APPEARANCES) | ERA | IP | STRIKEOUTS |
| Notre Dame | RHP Matt Bedford | - | - | - | - |
| Rice | TBD | - | - | - | - |
NOTRE DAME LINEUP
| NAME | POSITION | BATTING AVERAGE |
| DM Jefferson | DH | - |
| David Glancey | LF | - |
| Jack Penney | SS | - |
| Tito Flores | RF | - |
| Josh Hahn | 1B | - |
| Simon Baumgardt | 3B | - |
| Connor Hincks | 2B | - |
| Tony Lindwedel | C | - |
| TJ Williams | CF | - |
RICE LINEUP
| NAME | POSITION | BATTING AVERAGE |
| Kyte McDonald | CB | - |
| Jack Riedel | 1B | - |
| Treyton Rank | RF | - |
| Nathan Becker | DH | - |
| Pierce Gallo | 2B | - |
| Manny Garza | C | - |
| Brendan Cumming | LF | - |
| Ben Yoyo | SS | - |
| Max Johnson | 2B | - |
- Not a lot to say here as it’s opening day. There is a quiet confidence surrounding the season, so this weekend will be a solid test. Now, it’s to LSU or Mississippi State to open the year as Rice went 21-37 a year ago, but the Owls at home will be a formidable opponent.
- Rice will start junior RHP Parker Smith on Friday. The 6-foot-4, 230-pounder finished 2023 with a record of 2-3, 3.26 ERA and 80 strikeouts. He was invited to attend the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team training camp over the summer, so Parker will be a tough challenge for the Irish.
- Sophomore RHP Caden Spivey will get the starting nod for the Irish after a big freshman season. The 6-foot-1, 195-pounder appeared in 15 games and finished with an ERA of 4.11 in 35.0 innings and struck out 25. Spivey did hang at the top of the ACC in ERA for most of the season as the Boston College game ran up the ERA in the last week of the season.
- Catcher will be interesting as Stiffler mentioned it was an ongoing battle and up to three players are still in the race.
- Overall, Notre Dame has a chance to come out firing this weekend and make a statement. The bullpen is much deeper than a year ago and expect the hitting to make a drastic improvement as players are now used to what this staff wants.
Under Armour Steel Notre Dame Fighting Irish Game Day Camo Raglan Quarter-Zip
