May 17, 2015
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Picked to finish 11th out of 14 teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference before the season began, the University of Notre Dame baseball team learned Saturday that it had secured the No. 3 seed for next week’s ACC Tournament at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, North Carolina.Â
Set to get underway Tuesday with a pair of play-in games, the 2015 ACC Tournament features 10 teams that all have an official NCAA RPI (last updated May 15) above 64, including eight teams that are ranked 40 or above.
With their top seed, Notre Dame automatically qualifies for pool play, meaning they are one of four teams in one pool, while another four teams will play in a different pool. The two teams (one from each pool) with the best record at the end of pool play will compete for the ACC Tournament title at 1 p.m. (ET) Sunday.Â
The Irish get their first-ever ACC Tourney underway at 11 a.m. (ET) Thursday when they meet NC State. A day later they will play either No. 7 Virginia or No. 10 Georgia Tech at 11 a.m. (ET) before closing out pool play with a showdown against the No. 2 Hurricanes at 3 p.m. (ET) Saturday. Â
After winning six conference series and finishing the regular season with a 35-19 record overall (17-13 ACC), the Irish clinched a spot at their first ACC Tourney last weekend with a sweep of then-No. 20 North Carolina. Late this past week, Notre Dame took two out of three at Boston College to first wrap up a top-six seed and then to seal a top-four seed. However, the three seed wasn’t secured until Saturday afternoon, when the Clemson Tigers (No. 5 seed) completed an impressive three-game sweep of No. 4 seed Florida State in Tallahassee, Florida.
For the Irish, the top seed only continues to bolster an already impressive NCAA resume that features a 20-8 record away from Frank Eck Stadium, a 9-11 record against teams ranked 1-50 in the RPI and 26-8 mark versus teams with an RPI of 51 and lower (according to WarrenNolan.com).
Earlier this year, Notre Dame swept Pittsburgh and then-No. 7 Florida State in back-to-back weekends and later swept the Tar Heels. They also won key league series at Clemson, at home against NC State and on the road at Boston College. The Irish opened the year 10-1 (all games on road) and finished their non-conference slate with an impressive 18-6 mark.Â
Much more about the 2015 ACC Tournament will be announced in the coming days.
NOTRE DAME ACC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Thursday, May 21
NC State vs. Notre Dame — 11 a.m. ET
Friday, May 22
Notre Dame vs. Virginia or Georgia Tech — 11 a.m. ET
Saturday, May 23
Notre Dame vs. Miami — 3 p.m. ET
–Russell Dorn, Assistant Media Relations Director
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