Game Thread | (G2) Notre Dame at Rice
Notre Dame (1-0) at Rice (0-1)
When: February 17th
Time: 3:00 PM ET
Where: Reckling Park | Houston, Texas
Watch: ESPN+
QUICK FACTS
- Notre Dame is 2-1 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
- 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
- Notre Dame took game one 3-1 on Friday night
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 | .000 |
| David Glancey | LF | .000 |
| Jack Penney | SS | .000 |
| Tito Flores | RF | .400 |
| Josh Hahn | 1B | .000 |
| Simon Baumgardt | 3B | .000 |
| Brady Gumpf | LF | .000 |
| Estevan Moreno | 2B | - |
| Carson Tinney | C | - |
RICE LINEUP
| NAME | POSITION | BATTING AVERAGE |
| Kyte McDonald | CF | .000 |
| Jack Riedel | 3B | .500 |
| Treyton Rank | 1B | .000 |
| Nathan Becker | DH | .250 |
| Pierce Gallo | 2B | .000 |
| Manny Garza | C | .000 |
| Brendan Cumming | LF | .000 |
| Ben Yoyo | SS | .000 |
| Ben Dukes | RF | 1.000 |
- Notre Dame grinded its way to victory on Friday night as they took game one 3-1. The game didn’t feature a ton of offense on either side, given both teams combined for just seven hits. That said, the Irish found ways to get on base by earning seven walks and three batters got hit by pitches. Notre Dame left 10 on base, which isn’t great, but it’s also game one, so it’ll be interesting to see how they respond today when the emotions of Opening Day are gone.
- The Irish added nine graduate transfers in the offseason and their impact was felt in game one. TIto Flores, Josh Hahn and Simon Baumgardt recorded RBIs while also making key plays in the field.
On the mound, Davidson grad transfer Bennett Flynn pitched the 7th and 8th innings, giving up one hit, one walk and striking out three on 38 pitches. Nathan Hardman earned his first save of the year by getting three ground outs in the 9th.
- Sophomore RHP Caden Spivey was money as he gave up three hits, one run, one walk and struck out one in 3.0 innings of work. The Georgia native was exactly what Notre Dame expected with his demeanor and a calming presence even with Rice being super aggressive at the plate to start the game.
Junior RHP Radek Birkholz earned the win as he didn't give up a hit in three innings of work while striking out three. The only baserunner he allowed was a walk.
We’ll know more today, but it seemed like Notre Dame was using a pod attack on the mound where they are going to change pitchers after three innings of work. Spivey and Birkholz were more than capable of going another inning (or two), but were replaced. So that’s something to keep an eye on today to see if Jackson Dennies comes out after three if he’s dealing.
*Lineups will be added when released
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