NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame baseball team will finish its current nine-game homestand this Tuesday with a midweek matchup against regional foe Northwestern. It will be the first of two games against Northwestern as the Irish will travel to Evanston during the final week of the regular season. The Irish are coming off a thrilling 4-3 walk-off win over No. 21 North Carolina and look to ride the momentum into Tuesday’s game against the Wildcats.
Know the Opponent: Northwestern
- Northwestern travels to Frank Eck Stadium for the first of two meetings between the Irish and Wildcats this season.
- The Irish hold a 73-60-1 record all-time against the Wildcats and are 45-28 in games at Notre Dame.
- Last season, the two teams split the series with both teams winning on the road.
- The Irish had their highest scoring output of the season against the Wildcats in their 19-10 win in Evanston.
- Eric Gilgenbach, Nick Podkul and Alex Kerschner all have five RBI in the win.
- The combo of Tommy Sheehan and Andrew Belcik held the Wildcats to just three huts and no runs over the first six innings of the game.
- The 19 runs were the most for the Irish since they hit the same number against Purdue on Feb. 19, 2011.
Prajzner Walks-Off No. 21 North Carolina
- In the second game of the doubleheader, the Irish and Tar Heels had a pitcher’s duel between Cameron Junker and Will Sandy.
- The game was scoreless through the first three frames until the teams traded runs in the fourth inning.
- The Irish jumped out in front in the seventh with two runs on a sacrifice bunt from Jared Miller and Daniel Jung scored on a wild pitch.
- Junker finished the afternoon with seven innings pitched and limited the Tar Heels to just two runs for his fifth quality start of the season.
- North Carolina tied the contest at 3-3 in the top of the ninth but the Irish had an answer in the bottom half of the inning.
- The bases were loaded with two outs when Zack Prajzner stepped to the plate for his second at-bat after pinch-hitting earlier in the game.
- He got a hold of the 2-1 pitch and drove it to the wall for the game-winning hit for Notre Dame’s fifth ranked win of the season.