ACC CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW: Pitt Panthers

DURHAM, NC – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (30-22, 15-15 ACC) earned an eight seed in the 2023 ACC Championship and are in Pool A, where they’ll open up tournament play with No. 12 seed Pitt (23-30, 10-18) on Wednesday, May 24 at 11 AM.

ACCN | Live Stats | Tickets | Game Notes

Irish Face Pitt in Game One of ACC Tournament 

• The Irish won the regular-season series over the Panthers on the road in early April, taking game one 10-8 and game two 11-2 before falling to Pitt in the final game 9-5.
• The Irish posted an early 6-0 lead in the first inning of game one as Danny Neri capped off the inning with a three-run bomb to right field.
• Jack Penney, Zack Prajzner, and Danny Neri each recorded home runs in the game one win.
• Blake Hely started on the mound for the Irish, recording five strikeouts in 4.0 innings pitched, with Will Mercer also seeing action in game one where he recorded five strikeouts across just 2.0 innings pitched.
• Notre Dame won game two 11-2, with doubles coming from Zack Prajzner, Nick Juiare, and TJ Williams. Danny Neri was also walked five times, scoring a team-high three runs in the second win over the Panthers. Jackson Dennies recorded six strikeouts through 4.2 innings pitched for the Irish.
• While the Irish took the series, they were unable to complete the sweep as they fell to the Panthers 9-5 in the final game of the series.
• The Irish head into the matchup with Vinny Martinez leading the way with a .304 batting average, followed by Zack Prajzner who is hitting at a clip of .300.
• Prajzner has tallied a team best 60 hits and 43 runs and is leading the team with 14 doubles.
• Carter Putz leads the Irish with 39 RBI this season. Putz has recorded 56 hits, 13 doubles, and eight home runs. 
• Jack Penney and Vinny Martinez are leading the team with 10 home runs a piece.

Tyrell Earns All-ACC Honors

• Notre Dame graduate student Aidan Tyrell was named to the All-ACC Second Team for his first all-conference honor of his career.
• The lefty is third in the ACC with a 2.74 ERA through 15 appearances and 65.2 innings pitched. 
• He has given up just 20 earned runs this season, which is second only to the 2023 ACC Pitcher of the Year, Rhett Lowder from Wake Forest.
• He is fourth in the conference with eight wins so far this season, securing an 8-2 record on the mound with five starts on the year. 
• Tyrell is holding opposing players to a .230 batting average, which is sixth best in the ACC.
• Tyrell has given up one run or fewer in 8 of his 15 appearances. The graduate student has also recorded at least four strikeouts in eight of his appearances. 
• He has struck out 57 batters so far this season, tallying a career-high eight strikeouts across 6.0 innings in the win over No. 8 Virginia this year.

Final ACC Series of the Season is Set in Boston

• What a week for the Irish – Wrigley Field on Tuesday and Fenway Park on Friday last week as Notre Dame played at both parks for the first time in program history. 
• The Irish were one of just three teams in the country to play at both parks this season, alongside only the Cardinals and Mariners. 
• The Irish took game one of the series on Thursday, May 18, as Notre Dame tallied five doubles in the 5-1 win.
• Notre Dame finished game one with 10 hits on the day, with TJ Williams, Vinny Martinez, and Casey Kmet leading the way with two hits a piece for the Irish.
• Aidan Tyrell took home his eighth win of the season as he pitched 6.0 innings, recorded six strikeouts, and gave up just one run on six hits.
  Radek Birkholz closed for Notre Dame, pitching 3.0 innings with two strikeouts and allowing no runs on two hits. 
• The Irish fell in both games on the doubleheader on Friday, dropping their final ACC series to No. 22 Boston College.
• The Irish fell 7-2 in the first game of the day at Boston College and fell 8-4 in the second game of the day at Fenway.

Irish Play Northwestern at Wrigley Field

• For the first time in program history, the Fighting Irish took the field at the historic  Wrigley Field to take on Northwestern for the second time this season.
• The Irish fell in their second 11 inning game of the season, falling 8-7 in extra innings as the Wildcats scored their final run on a groundball to third with bases loaded. 
• Brooks Coetzee recorded his third home run of the season as he crushed it to deep left center field at Wrigley field for a two-run home run for the Irish in the second inning. 
• Ryan Lynch would take the mound in the bottom of the seventh, striking out the side. Lynch recorded six strikeouts across just 2.0 innings pitched.
• Will Mercer would face four batters, striking out three of them to take the Irish into the eleventh. Mercer would finish the day with six strikeouts across just 2.2 innings pitched.

Notre Dame Hosted Akron in Final Home Series of the Season

• The Fighting Irish close out their final home series of the year with sweep against the Akron Zips, taking home the final win of the year at Frank Eck Stadium on Degree Day.
• The Irish took home game one 5-2 before taking the series with a 5-4 victory over the Zips in the second game.
• RHP Blake Hely recorded a season-high nine strikeouts across just 5.0 innings pitched in the game two win.
• Notre Dame closed the series with a 2-1 win, taking home the final game in abnormal fashion. Tied in the bottom of the ninth, Brady Gumpf singled, Nick DeMarco walked, and Estevan Moreno also singled. TJ Williams stepped up to the plate and was hit by a pitch to score the final run for the Irish’s second walk-off HBP of the season. 

Irish Fall to NC State

• Notre Dame took game one of the three game series against NC State, as they defeated the Wolfpack in the first game on Thursday, May 4. 
• Taking home the 9-7 win in game one, Vinny Martinez led the Irish with three hits and three RBI, followed by Williams, Prajzner, Putz, and Moreno, who tallied two hits a piece.
• This was Martinez’s third game in a row where he recorded a home run as his 10th homer of the season gave the Irish the 9-7 lead and eventual game one victory.
• The Irish fell in game two 5-1 and game three 6-1.

Florida State at Frank Eck Stadium 

• The Irish took home their fourth conference series win as they took down the Seminoles last weekend. After falling 3-2 to FSU in game one on Friday night, the Irish dominated game two 12-2 and completed the series win with a 12-8 win in game three.
• The Irish tallied 27 hits between games two and three as they were led by Brooks Coetzee with five hits on the weekend, followed by Brady Gumpf, Vinny Martinez, Carter Putz, and Zack Prajzner, who finished with four hits a piece. 
• Coetzee finished the weekend with three doubles and his second home run of the year, as well as drove in eight runs for the Irish. 
• Brady Gumpf went 4-6 at the plate, batting .667 on the series.
• Putz had a big day in the final game of the series as he finished the day 3-5, recording four RBI, scoring three runs, and homering twice in the 12-8 win. 
• Blake Hely started on the mound in game two, advancing to 3-1 on the year as he pitched 7.0 innings, striking out eight batters, and giving up just two runs on five hits. 

Irish Take on MSU for the Second Time This Season

• The Irish fell to the Spartans for the second time this season on Tuesday, April 25 in East Lansing. 
• Tied at 5-5 in the sixth, Michigan State recorded a six-run inning in the seventh to take the lead 11-5. The Spartans would tack on one more run in the bottom of the eighth to take the win 12-5. 
• Carter Putz and Brady Gumpf led the Irish with two hits a piece and DM Jefferson recorded his first triple of the season.
• The Irish fell to Michigan State in their first extra-inning game of the season at Frank Eck Stadium on Tuesday, April 11 in the first Irish-MSU matchup of the season. 
• TJ Williams went 3-4 on the day, recording four RBI and his third home run of the year. Zack Prajzner finished the day with two hits as he tallied homer number four of the season.
• Falling 7-6 after a Spartan home run in the top of the 11th, the Irish were unable to get the offense rolling in the bottom frame and dropped their first midweek of the season. 

Notre Dame Sweeps No. 8 Virginia 

• The Irish notched their first sweep of the season as they downed No. 8 Virginia at Frank Eck Stadium April 21-23, playing in their fifth doubleheader of the season.
• The Irish recorded six home runs in the first win of the series on Friday night as Estevan Moreno led the way with three homers for the Irish. Jack Penney, DM Jefferson, and Brady Gumpf each recorded a home run as well in the 10-7 victory. Penney leads the Irish with nine home runs on the season. 
• Jefferson’s long ball was the first home run of his career as Gumpf tallied his first homer of the 2023 season. 
• The Irish finished with a season-high 17 hits in the first game of the doubleheader on Sunday, April 23 as they took home the series with a 10-2 win.
• Jack Penney led the Irish with four hits, followed by Zack Prajzner and DM Jefferson who recorded three hits a piece. Carter Putz and Vinny Martinez finished with two hits, while TJ Williams, Danny Neri, and Estevan Moreno each finished with one hit in the win.
• The Irish capped off their weekend sweep with a 5-4 victory in the second game of the doubleheader. 
• Blake Hely finished with a season-high 7.1 innings pitched and season-high eight strikeouts as he took home his second win of the season in the final game.
• Vinny Martinez batted .700 in the series against No. 8 Virginia, finishing the weekend with seven hits, six RBI, three runs, two doubles, and one home run.

Valparaiso and Western Michigan Come to Frank Eck

• The Irish defeated Valparaiso and Western Michigan in their home midweeks to advance to 8-4 at home.
• Winning 7-3 over Valpo, the Irish were led by Vinny Martinez who finished the day with two home runs. He also recorded three hits, three runs, and two RBI.
• The Irish defeated Western Michigan 2-1 on Wednesday at home as they were led by TJ Williams, who finished with two hits, including a double to left center field.

Irish Travel to Clemson 

• Notre Dame took game one of the three-game series at Clemson as the Irish offense was hot to start the series, recording 11 hits while winning 10-4 on Friday.
• The 10-4 victory was sparked by a big third inning as Notre Dame picked up their eighth ACC win of the year.
• Jack Penney and Brooks Coetzee each recorded three hits a piece in the win with Coetzee also recording three RBI and Penney recording two runs.
• TJ Williams also tallied his fourth home run of the year in the fifth inning for a two-run home run that extended the lead 8-2.
• The Irish fell 5-1 in game two on Saturday and 6-4 in game three on Sunday.
• The Irish are now 8-10 in the ACC after dropping the Clemson series on the road.

Michigan State Matchup at Frank Eck

• The Irish fell to Michigan State in their first extra-inning game of the season at Frank Eck Stadium on Tuesday, April 11. 
• TJ Williams went 3-4 on the day, recording four RBI and his third home run of the year. Zack Prajzner finished the day with two hits as he tallied homer number four of the season.
• Falling 7-6 after a Spartan home run in the top of the 11th, the Irish were unable to get the offense rolling in the bottom frame and dropped their first midweek of the season. 

Conference Play Resumes at Pitt

• The Irish took the series at Pitt after winning games one and two on Thursday and Friday. After winning 10-8 in game one, the Irish took game two 11-2 after a big offensive frame in the ninth. 
• The Irish fell short of the sweep as they dropped Sunday’s game 9-5 against the Panthers.
• A six-run first inning gave the Irish an early advantage in game one as Danny Neri capped off the scoring frenzy with his fourth home run of the year in the top of the first. 
• Jack Penney led off the second with his seventh home run of the season as he homered to right center to tack on another run for Notre Dame and make it a score of 7-2.
• The Panthers were able to close the gap to 10-8 with just one out in the bottom of the ninth as Sammy Cooper would come in to close for the Irish. 
• Pitt chopped a ground ball to Penney at third who turned a double play to preserve the Irish lead. Cooper picked up his second save of the season as Notre Dame took home the 10-8 victory to open the series.
• Jackson Dennies started on the mound in game two and finished the day pitching 4.2 innings, recording six strikeouts, and allowing no runs and just one hit.
• Leading 4-1 heading into the top of the ninth, the Irish offense dominated in the final inning scoring seven runs off of six hits in the frame to go on and take the 11-2 win.