Notre Dame baseball coach Shawn Stiffler previewed the 2026 season as the Fighting Irish will open the season February 13 at FAU.
On common themes from 2025 that can carry into 2026:
“You're trying to build up that momentum, and it's months apart. I understand that, but you know how to win. I think that's the first thing and that's one of the things we did over those four weeks.
“That four-week stretch started with starting pitching. Obviously, Jack (Radel) caught on fire there and made some adjustments through the back half of that year. Then he emerged as one of the top pitchers in the country in the back half of the year. Then Rory (Fox) pitching in the two holes was equally as good and played well enough to play professional baseball.
“I think the other thing is we played a decent amount of younger people, underclassmen and they become a year older as you get back in the late part of April and then into the early part of May. They're no longer freshmen. They've been through 150 at-bats in the college season and they start to understand what the day-to-day grind looks like.
“That's what we did. We just matured and I don't want to say it came quicker than I thought, but it was a great way to end the year. I think we just have to advance on that. It's not about necessarily trying to repeat what we did, but it's about learning, taking away what we've learned from it, and then advancing on it.”
On the next step for RHP Jack Radel:
“Well, that's just refinement. I think that's the biggest thing that I've seen from him over the last couple months is just the refinement of his stuff. The fastball, his command, both up and down in the zone. He can attack and whip with it. The breaking pitch, the adding confidence of the curveball is really been something I've been impressed with.
“Last night, I was watching him throw. It's the third inning of his outing and he started throwing some change-ups. He showed command to both right-handed and left-handed hitters right away. Just the refinement of his stuff and I think he's a guy who's evolved.
“His freshman year in ‘24, we needed him. We threw him out there into the fire right away and then as you saw halfway through his sophomore year, he's starting to really start to understand what this is about and how he can refine his stuff. Now you're seeing him much more polished and I think you're going to see a much more polished piece of him. His work is as good as anyone's work I've seen to this point.”
On his excitement entering 2026:
“Just excited for the work these guys have put in. We get the chance to see them compete. This is certainly on paper, we’re looking at the most established team I think we've had since I've been here, for sure. And for me, it's the repeat of that freshman class last year and now sophomores. It's guys like that, and some of that junior class have been through a full development cycle with us. To see those guys emerge and to see those guys take a step forward is going to be really rewarding for me.
“Guys like Radel and Davis Johnson have been here three years with us to see what they become. Then you throw on top of the weather, I've never been more excited to get on a plane in my life. I'm anticipating the start of this season as much as I have in a long time for a lot of reasons.
“That returning core and we hit home runs in the portal. We did. We do it different. We have to stay with the grad students. We hit home runs, really mature guys who came in, showed leadership and found a bunch of roles, both on the mound and the positional side. They're going to play big roles. So just the way that it's all meshed together. It's an exciting year for sure and like I said, I'm as excited as I've been in a long time to get this started.”
On pitching depth:
“Well, that's something you never find. You're never deep enough. That's the worry of a coach for sure. What I do like is we feel very, very confident when Jack takes the mound on Friday nights. We're going to be as good as anybody in the country.
“Again, we talked about the transfers. I mentioned that we were able to bring in three guys who have had starting roles and have started games. Ty Uber has started games in the ACC. He's closed games in the ACC. He's pitched him in relief in the ACC. He's going to play a huge part and have an opportunity to take on some of that, probably some of that rotational piece.
“Noah Rooney, left-hander from Minnesota. Another guy who had started, closed, relieved in his career, done everything from Minnesota. He's left-handed, which is not something we've had a lot of in this program for sure.
“Eli Thurmond is a guy that a lot of people aren't talking about. He's a Division II transfer. He won two national titles as a guy who pitched in rotation for the University of Tampa. When you can bring and add somebody who's at the winning pedigree to you, you obviously want to do that.
“I'm really impressed with our freshmen class. Caden Crowell from down the road in Valparaiso. Left-hander, Top 100 recruit to get to campus. He's going to be special. He's just right where Jack Radel was as a freshman, just left-handed and a guy that we're going to give opportunity to right away and look to develop him.
“Another young man by the name of Dylan Singleton has thrown the baseball really, really well for us, left-hander from Florida. He's come on and is a strike thrower for pitch mix. So all these guys have the opportunity to compete for that rotation.
“I think our middle relief is really, really strong. We have guys that I think go out and get six outs. We've had different match-ups because we've added left-handed depth. We have different looks.
“Chase Van Ameyde is somebody, a side-archer who throws 92 mph. He's a nice addition to have. The one thing that we haven't had in a little while is we have a guy who’s established on the back end in Oisin Lee. Tobey McDonough did an unbelievable job for us last year. I think he had seven saves for us last year.
“I wouldn’t have sat here today and told you about a year ago that Toby McDonough was going to be our closer. I didn't have any clue that that was going to happen. That just kind of evolved. And Oisin, we're a little bit ahead of that this year because we think Oisin has the ability to finish. He finished games in the ACC last year. I don't know if he will end up being our closer. We have some time to play on that, but he can do it and so you have to feel confident there.”
On what Notre Dame’s NIL looks like through rev share and other means:
“I think every program, regardless of where you're at, is trying to do -- that's at the front of all head coaches' thoughts, right? Trying to get as much as we can for our players and to put together a complete roster.
“Notre Dame and our ability to create NIL, great opportunities for our guys has gotten better every year that I've been here. It's continuing to get better. I think it's something that you've seen through football into basketball now and the Olympic sports is evolving every year. We're at a place where we feel like we can put together a competitive roster. I don't think you saw that with the retention of our players this past year and the ability to get into the portal and compete.”
On not overlooking the opening weekend at FAU, but what the second weekend could mean for the program, facing UCF, Indiana and LSU and if that’s a scheduling philosophy change:
“I wouldn't say it's necessarily a change in scheduling philosophy. You want to have an opportunity to prepare them for a 30-game challenging ACC conference schedule. The peak events are something that the ACC, the SEC, we're all trying to rotate through. We're going to play at one in Globe Life in two more years as well. That's just an opportunity.
“You're looking at a high-end regional format there with those four teams. And so just put our guys on the national stage. We believe we have the depth and then the ability to compete and be that type of team. We want to go play the best people whenever we can in the best venues.
“Us having to start off the year traveling, you've got to balance that out a little bit, right? You've got to balance that somewhat. But anytime we get an opportunity to play them in a venue like that, we're going to do it. We're definitely excited, but I agree with your opening statement, not to overlook FAU or the tradition of that program, certainly.”
On the frontrunners in the infield and outfield:
“I think one big move that I think you'll see right out of the gate is Parker Brzustewicz is going to move over to third base and play quite a bit. It doesn't mean he won't go back to first base at times, depending on match-ups, but he'll have the opportunity to play some third base for us this year.
“Noah Coy is going to play shortstop and replace Estevan (Moreno), who started there for three years before he moved on to pro ball. So excited for Noah. He had an unbelievable summer in the Northwoods League and we believe he's got an opportunity to really solidify that position.
“Freshman Jamie Zee is going to get that nod at second base, I think, to start. He will also move over to third if Brzustewicz moves over to first base or comes off the field to the DH role.
“First base is going to have a little bit of a platoon to it. Freshman Dylan Paso will be over there. Left-handed hitter out of New Jersey. He's done a great job for us. He'll be over there. Parker will be over there and then I think you'll also see, a couple times a year, depending on match-ups, Bino Watters getting an opportunity to slide in there as well. I saw him last night make a couple plays that were really impressive as well. We're going to rotate that position.
“Chase Van Ameyde is another guy who can see some time over there as well. That position will rotate a little bit based on match-ups and where our health is and who needs a day.
“Around the outfield, talked about Bino and Davis Johnson will kind of rotate again. Davis will be the catcher as well. He’ll serve as one of the catchers, play left field. Bino will serve as left fielder, first base and DH. Davis will slide into that DH role at times. So those guys will kind of run that and solidify left field.
“Drew Berkland will play in center field to start the year. Jayce (Lee) will play in right field. The other piece of it is that Brandon Logan will come in as he gets adjusted to the speed and he gets to self-acclimate to college baseball. We're going to get him in the mix as quickly as possible.
“Mark Quatrani will probably start the year out catching. Him and Davis will be our catching core for the most part. I'm excited about the rest of that group as well. Several other kids, Troy Reader's been in the program for a couple of years and understands, and will help out the catching position as well. I think we have some veteran depth there, which is nice as well.”
On the health of Brandon Logan:
“Good. He's still a little bit nicked up and coming back and we hope to get him back by the start of the season. We're going to get him back when he's ready. I think that's the biggest thing when you're asking him to do what he's trying to do while coming off the injury of football, that's a lot. We've got to make sure that he's capable and ready to do what he needs to do on the field to set him up for success as well. He's obviously a huge talent, right? So as soon as we get him on the field, we want him to go as well.”
On what he learned from the Drayk Bowen experience that can help Brandon Logan:
“It's a little bit of a different scenario with Drayk. Drayk came in mid-year and started baseball. Forgoes his senior year of baseball to play freshman year baseball. That was tough coming in mid-year and it was always more football-oriented from that standpoint.
“But you did learn scheduling and understanding workloads and things like that. You have to be ahead of with those two-sport athletes. Brandon probably slightly more baseball. It's just what he's done longer in his life. I don't want to say polished, but probably more prepared because he played that senior year and Drayk didn’t.
“The two of them are completely different players. Drayk was little bit more power and speed and we had to find him a position. Brandon comes in an was arguably the best high school center fielder in the country last year. There's a defensive position already ready for him just to go.”
On why Brandon Logan didn’t get drafted:
“I can't speak on why he got drafted or not. That's up to professional organizations. I know that he, when you have the opportunity to, one, get a degree from the University of Notre Dame, and then on top of that, you're playing two sports. That's something that I'm sure for a lot of clubs, he priced himself at a really good price that you give someone you have to compete with.”
On the sophomore class:
“It starts with leadership. I've talked to them as a group several times, whether it's Noah, Bino, Chase, Parker, they all bring something different to the team. They're almost like their own group, a leadership council, if you will. For only being in the program for a second year, they have a really great understanding of how to go about their work. They're mature from that standpoint, and so their group is almost a leadership group, if you will, just because we've had to rely on them so quickly early on, and they've matured so quickly.
“Physically, they've all gotten bigger, stronger, faster. They've all put their bodies in a great place, and so I'm really, really proud. I'm really excited for a lot of people to see some of the guys that they may not have heard as much about last year and how much they've evolved.”
On if Notre Dame will play small ball or still have power:
“We're going to walk and hit doubles. That's what we're going to do. That's what we want to try to do, no matter what we do. I don't think you're going to see any step back from a power production or a slug production. I think you'll see the on-base percentage stick up quite a bit. I think you'll see the ability to hit with two strikes click up.
“We're going to be more athletic, that's for sure. We have more athleticism around, more versatility in our bats. We won't have to sit there and wait for the home run. We will be able to create a little bit more offense from that standpoint, but I wouldn't say it's going to be a small-ball approach.
“I think when we need to lengthen the field, we can do that. When we need to shorten the field, we'll be able to do that as well. We've worked very hard the last two years to continue to shape the roster to score runs when the wind's blowing in. We play here and you're not always going to get a favorable weather condition or wind blowing out, we need to get better at scoring runs when the wind is blowing in. I don't call manufacturing, we're just being able produce more.”
Want the latest scoop on the Fighting Irish? Sign up for our newsletter and become an ISD Premium Subscriber: Sign Up for ISD
Notre Dame Fighting Irish AirPods Case Cover
