Notre Dame baseball opened its season by taking a road series from Florida Atlantic Owls baseball after dropping the opener.
Shawn Stiffler’s club needed to take a step forward offensively, and the Irish did just that over the weekend.
A year ago, Notre Dame finished the season batting .247. After three games against FAU, the Irish sit at .288. It’s far too small a sample size, but it’s progress.
Notre Dame hit just .152 in Friday’s 7-1 loss, striking out 15 times. After three games, that performance appears to be the outlier and understandable, given it was the team’s first time playing outdoors after two months inside the Loftus Center.
The response on the mound was equally encouraging across the weekend.
Jack Radel and Noah Rooney allowed 11 hits and seven runs in 7.2 innings in the opener. Both are expected to anchor the staff, and while Friday wasn’t sharp, there’s little reason to believe they won’t rebound. More importantly, the Irish allowed just two runs over the remainder of the weekend.
Saturday’s 14-1 win showcased the offense’s potential. Cornell transfer Mark Quatrani went 2-for-3 and scored four times. Sophomore Bino Watters finished 3-for-6 with two RBI and his first home run of the season, while sophomore Jayce Lee also went 3-for-6 and homered.
Beyond the run total, Saturday was significant for Notre Dame’s future on the mound. Freshman left-hander Caden Crowell made his first career start and threw three no-hit innings with three strikeouts. The four walks will need to be trimmed, but it was a strong debut.
Xavier Hirsch, Will Jaisle, and Kellan Klosterman followed by allowing just two hits across the final six innings. Hirsch struck out six of the 16 batters he faced.
The Irish closed the weekend with a 7-1 win on Sunday, with FAU’s lone run coming in the ninth inning. Quatrani and Watters combined to go 5-for-8, and seven different players scored. Notre Dame pitchers navigated traffic throughout the game, allowing seven hits and three walks, but FAU stranded nine runners.
What can you take away from the first weekend?
Notre Dame emphasized bullpen improvement in the offseason and early returns suggest that work is paying off. The Irish are blending young arms with experienced transfers, creating depth and flexibility that hasn’t been there over the last two years.
Relief Pitching through three games
| NAME | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Eli Thurmond (1-0) | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Dylan Singleton | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Oisin Lee | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Xavier Hirsch (1-0) | 4.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Will Jaisle | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Kellen Klosterman | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Noah Rooney | 3.2 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| Garrett Snyder | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
If Notre Dame continues to get that level of production from its bullpen, it could make for a fun spring in South Bend. There’s still a long way to go and the ACC rarely offers breathing room, but the picture should be clearer after the first weekend of April.
Five of Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball’s everyday players hit over .330 during opening weekend. That’s a significant step forward for a lineup that has been inconsistent at times over the past few seasons and, frankly, prone to some difficult stretches.
The five-hit, 15-strikeout performance in the opener felt all too familiar. Those kinds of games will still happen in ACC play. The league is a gauntlet, but with added experience and talent throughout the lineup, Notre Dame appears better equipped to respond. The quick turnaround after Friday suggests growth.
Minnesota transfer Drew Berkland struggled over the weekend in the leadoff spot. Berkland hit .287 over three seasons with the Gophers and put together a strong offseason, but he finished the weekend 1-for-14 against FAU.
That said, he still managed to score three runs, finding ways to contribute despite the struggles at the plate. Notre Dame will need him to settle in quickly with a challenging weekend ahead in Jacksonville.
UP NEXT
It’s hard to say the second weekend of the college baseball season is a measuring stick, but Notre Dame will find out a lot about itself by facing UCF, No. 2 LSU and Indiana.
UCF, led by former Notre Dame assistant Rich Wallace, has NCAA Tournament aspirations and opened 3-0. The Knights outscored Siena 44-1 across three seven-inning games (16-0, 13-1, 15-0) and will face No. 21 Miami on Tuesday.
LSU also started 3-0, defeating Milwaukee 15-5, 5-3 and 21-7. The Tigers host Kent State on Monday and Nicholls on Wednesday before the weekend slate.
Indiana is 0-3 after losing three games to No. 11 North Carolina, which included this play.
The Hoosiers will host Bradley on Tuesday.
If the opening numbers are any indication, Notre Dame will need to score. Both LSU and UCF have shown explosive offensive potential, and it will be a good test to see how the Irish handle adversity and allow their young players to prepare for ACC play.
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