Game Thread | Notre Dame at Louisville (Doubleheader)

Notre Dame (27-22, 9-18) at Louisville (29-22, 13-14) 

When: May 16th

Time: 2:00 PM ET and 6:00 PM ET 

Where: Jim Patterson Stadium 

Watch: ACC Network Extra 

QUICK FACTS

- Louisville leads the all-time series 37-11

- The Irish are 5-18 at Louisville. 

- Notre Dame enters the series No. 2 in the nation in fielding percentage at .984. 

- The Irish took the series from Louisville last year 2-1 as they won the first two games. 

- Thursday will be a doubleheader. 

PROBABLE STARTERS

THURSDAY 

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

WHAT TO WATCH

Notre Dame enters the series at Louisville fighting for its life to make it to the ACC Tournament. If the tournament started today, Notre Dame would be in the last spot, but they’ll have a chance to move up or down. 

It’s essentially a four-team race to qualify, but Louisville is on the edge of the danger zone. 

Louisville: 13-14 (.481) 
Miami: 10-17 (.370) 
Notre Dame: 9-18 (.333)
Boston College: 8-19 (.296)
Pitt: 8-19 (.296)

Boston College will travel to Clemson (37-13, 17-10), Miami will host Pitt and then the Irish and Cardinals will play each other in Louisville. Notre Dame does own the tiebreakers over Boston College, Miami and Pitt as the Irish hold series win over each program this season. 

As for Thursday’s doubleheader, Notre Dame needs to hit the baseball. Louisville enters the series with the worst ERA in the ACC and have given up 82 home runs on the year. The Irish need to start fast on offense and let its much-improved pitching maneuver the game. Notre Dame sat at the bottom of the ACC in ERA for much of the season, but Seth Voltz’s group has quietly climbed up to No. 8 (5.72) over the last month. 

Jack Penney has started to heat up over the last month and he’ll need to stay hot. Estevan Moreno and Simon Baumgardt also need to have big series at the plate. Both have been consistent forces throughout the year, but Notre Dame’s needs their best baseball this weekend. 

On the mound, Matt Bedford has been much better than his 3-6 record, but it’ll be interesting to see how Notre Dame manages the pen on Thursday. They need to win, so all hands on deck even if that means changing its normal rotation a bit to make sure they get a win and go from there. 

Expect a chippy series as these teams historically don’t like each other and that includes Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell. 

NOTRE DAME LINEUP

LOUISVILLE LINEUP

OFFENSIVE STATS (Entering the weekend)

OFFENSIVE STATS (Entering the series) 

PITCHING STATS (Entering the series) 

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