SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The sixth-ranked Notre Dame baseball team (18-5, 6-4 ACC) continued its winning ways with a 4-1 win over Clemson (19-10, 2-7 ACC) Friday afternoon at Frank Eck Stadium. Graduate student John Michael Bertrand pitched a season-high 8.1 innings to earn his fifth win of the season as the Irish won their sixth-straight game.
Bertrand kept Tigers hitters guessing at the plate on Friday, as they were limited to just three hits. It was the second-straight start that Bertrand had not allowed an earned run to score, which is over a span of 15.2 innings pitched. With the win he improved to 5-0 on the season, the first Irish pitcher to start the year 5-0 since Charlie Vorsheck in 2017.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tigers were the first team to threaten on the afternoon as they got runners to second and third in the second inning with two outs. Bertrand was able to get Spencer Rich to strike out looking to end the inning and end the threat.
The Irish got the bats going in the bottom of the second as they tallied four hits in the inning and scored the opening runs of the game. Spencer Myers hit a bunt single to third base that scored Brooks Coetzee III. Jack Brannigan followed it up with a single to right that scored David LaManna. That gave the Irish a 2-0 lead after the first two innings.
Clemson got a run back in the fourth as they took advantage of a couple Irish miscues. The lone run scored on a dropped third strike and pulled the Tigers within one at 2-1.
The Irish got the run back in the bottom of the fifth. Brannigan doubled to right off the wall in right and advanced to third on a ground out. He came home on a passed ball and the Irish led 3-1 after five.
Bertrand really settled in after the unearned run scored in the fourth. He retired the final batter in the fourth and set the Tigers down in order in three-consecutive innings between the fifth and the seventh. He got the first batter out in the eighth to retire 11-straight batters during that span.
Bertrand came back out for the ninth and got the first batter out but the next two reached base to end his outing. Ryan McLinskey came on from the pen and induced a double play to end the game and clinch the win.
UP NEXT
The Irish and Tigers are set to continue the series Saturday afternoon at Frank Eck Stadium. The second game of the weekend series is set for a 3 p.m. ET first pitch and it will be streamed on the ACC Network Extra. Admission is free for all fans this season at Frank Eck Stadium.
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