Game Thread (G3) Notre Dame at Florida State

Notre Dame (11-7, 0-5) at Florida State (17-0, 2-0) 

When: March 17

Time: 1:00 PM ET 

Where: Mike Martin Field at Dick Howser Stadium | Tallahassee, Fla. 

Watch: ACC Network Extra (ESPN+)

QUICK FACTS

- Florida State leads the all-time series 24-16.

- The Irish hold a record of 7-10 in Tallahassee. 

- Notre Dame enters the weekend No. 5 in the nation with 38 home runs. 

- 11 players have hit home runs for Notre Dame this season. 

- INF Estevan Moreno is the only player in Division I baseball to hit three home runs in two separate games this season. 

- Notre Dame’s .982 fielding percentage ranks No. 3 in the ACC and No. 14 nationally. 

PROBABLE STARTERS

SUNDAY

WHAT TO WATCH 

There is still plenty of baseball to play in the 2024 season, but Notre Dame is on the verge of starting ACC play 0-6 if Florida State completes the series sweep on Sunday afternoon. It’s a place not many thought Notre Dame would be in entering the season as the Irish have struggled in all areas of the game to this point. 

During Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the Seminoles, Notre Dame once again let an opponent jump out in the first inning and had to play catch up. RHP Matt Bedford did settle down and finished his day giving up two runs on three fours with four strikeouts in 4.0 innings of work. It was a solid performance and Bedford has found his groove over the last few weeks. 

Bennett Flynn and Radek Birkholz finished the game off giving up just four hits and two runs over the final four innings. It was a step in the right direction for the pitching staff. 

At the plate, Notre Dame didn’t help its pitchers as the Irish batted .188 for the game, and .167 with runners in scoring position. In fact, FSU pitcher Jamie Arnold recorded eight strikeouts in the first nine outs on the way to career-high 12 strikeouts in the game. Now, it’s not a huge surprise given Arnold entered the game with a perfect 4-0 record and an impressive 0.00 ERA. The Irish were able to tag a run on him, but he allowed just four hits in 5.2 innings of work. 

Notre Dame has to start getting hits with runners on base and simply needs more timely hits. Every game isn’t going to be 10-8 and good teams find ways to score runs in low-scoring games. The Irish also need to be better leading off innings as Notre Dame went 1-for-9 on Saturday. 

The Notre Dame staff also can’t be afraid to make subs in game. Connor Hincks, Jack Penney and Tito Flores combined to go 0-for-10 with nine strikeouts. Yes, Notre Dame isn’t overly deep and it would be risky to make the defense a little weaker if you were to move Penney, but you also have to give players a chance to make plays, especially when there’s a real possibility of starting ACC play 0-6. 

NOTRE DAME LINEUP

FLORIDA STATE LINEUP

OFFENSIVE STATS (Entering the series)

PITCHING STATS (Entering the series) 

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