Game Thread | (G3) Notre Dame at Rice
Notre Dame (2-0) at Rice (0-2)
When: February 18th
Time: 2:00 PM ET
Where: Reckling Park | Houston, Texas
Watch: ESPN+
QUICK FACTS
- Notre Dame is 3-1 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 will go for an opening weekend sweep as the Irish took game one 3-1 and game two 9-5
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 | LHP Jackson Mayo | - | - | - | - |
NOTRE DAME LINEUP
| NAME | POSITION | BATTING AVERAGE |
| DM Jefferson | DH | .167 |
| David Glancey | LF | .143 |
| Jack Penney | SS | .167 |
| Tito Flores | RF | .222 |
| Simon Baumgardt | 3B | .286 |
| Connor Hincks | 1B | .000 |
| Estevan Moreno | 2B | .000 |
| Tony Lindwedel | C | .000 |
| TJ Williams | CF | .333 |
RICE LINEUP
| NAME | POSITION | BATTING AVERAGE |
| Treyton Rank | 1B | .200 |
| Jack Riedel | 3B | .429 |
| Pierce Gallo | 2B | .125 |
| Nathan Becker | DH | .143 |
| Manny Garza | C | .500 |
| Brendan Cumming | LF | .125 |
| Ben Dukes | RF | .333 |
| Kyte McDonald | CF | .000 |
| Max Johnson | SS | .000 |
- Notre Dame started slow on Saturday, but broke the game wide open by scoring six runs in the final two innings. The Irish have done an incredible job of getting runs without getting hits as they’ve scored in just about every way through walks, hit by pitches and timely errors by Rice.
- While Notre Dame hasn’t completely found its stride at the plate, it’s a far cry from the first two games of a year ago. Notre Dame has struck out 16 times combined in the first two games of 2024 compared to the 29 strikeouts the Irish registered in the opening two games against Lipscomb last spring.
The Irish need to get the ball in play a little more, but Notre Dame has also had productive at-bats as it relates to working the pitch count.
- Notre Dame’s grad transfers have made an immediate impact to this point and are the reason the Irish sit at 2-0.
3B Simon Baumgardt has recorded two hits, one home run, three RBI and registered a walk. RF Tito Flores is up to two hits and 2 RBI while OF David Glancy has tallied four runs, one home run, three RBI and walked three times.
On the mound, RHP Bennett Flynn has two scoreless innings of baseball and RHP Toby McDonough threw one inning and gave up zero runs. RHP Nate Hardman has earned two saves.
- Sunday will be a chance to gain some real momentum if Notre Dame can earn the sweep. It will be interesting to see how Matt Bedford does as a starter. The senior did start two games last year, but he’s appeared in 22 other games in relief during his career.
RHP David Lally Jr. and RHP Sammy Cooper have yet to pitch this weekend, so it’s likely both will have significant roles to play behind Bedford. Lally has the velo and strikeout power Notre Dame needs out of the pen, but don’t rule him out as a weekend starter at some point. Cooper has been a solid reliever over the last two seasons, but has given up some big innings too.
- If you’re Shawn Stiffler, you have to like what you’ve seen from the Irish so far. Notre Dame has a laid-back approach to the game right now. They don’t seem to be bothered by Rice gaining some momentum and have taken it back right away this weekend.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Wright Quarter-Zip
