NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame baseball team is back on the road this weekend as they play their second ACC road series to begin the season. The Irish are set to square off with the Clemson Tigers this weekend at Doug Kingsmore Stadium for a three game series starting on Friday, March 5. The Irish (2-1, 2-1 ACC) and Tigers (4-2, 0-0 ACC) did not meet in the 2020 season but both squads were two of three teams to sweep their first ACC series last season.
Irish Continue Road Trip Down in Clemson
- Notre Dame heads south to Clemson to continue its early season road trip as ACC continues.
- Clemson holds a 12-8 advantage over the Irish but Notre Dame won the last series between the two schools and the series is even at 5-5 in games down in Clemson.
- These two teams squared off in 2019 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium and the Irish opened the series with a convincing 9-2 win.
- Tommy Sheehan tossed his first career complete game in the win as the Irish jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the second. The game was capped in the ninth after a three-run home run from Eric Gilgenbach. Sheehan struckout four and allowed just two runs in the win.
- After dropping the second game by a score of 5-1, the Irish responded in the series finale.
- Niko Kavadas gave the Irish an early lead with a solo home run in the second. The Tigers tied the game in the eighth but the Irish bullpen kept the game tied going into extras. Carter Putz scored the go-ahead run in the 10th and Mitch Megias came on to nail down the save and clinch the series for the Irish.
- Clemson enters the series with a 4-2 record and coming off a 6-3 midweek win over East Tennessee State. The Tigers have not started ACC play as they lost two games against in-state rival South Carolina this past weekend.
Scafidi, Rao Shut Down Demon Deacons
- The Irish rode a complete performance from the bats and the arms to clinch the series against No. 16 Wake Forest with a 10-0 win on Sunday.
- The Irish put up a number of crooked numbers to build an early lead as they scored two or more runs in four of the first six innings.
- They scored in the first inning (3) for the third straight game and also tallied multiple runs in the third (3), fifth (2) and sixth (2) innings.
- Brooks Coetzee set a career high with 5 RBI, Jared Miller set a career high with four runs and David LaManna tied career highs with three hits and three RBI.
- On the mound, Christian Scafidi and Alex Rao combined to shut the Demon Deacons out for the first time since April 27, 2018.
- Scafidi earned his first win in an Irish uniform while Rao recorded his first career save.
- The Irish pitching staff held the Demon Deacons scoreless over the final 14 innings of the series.
Power, Pen Lead Irish Over Wake
- The Irish bounced back with a 5-4 win in game two of the doubleheader against Wake Forest thanks to some timely power and quality innings out of the bullpen.
- In his first at-bat in an Irish uniform, Alex Brait blasted his first career grand slam to left field to put the Irish up 4-0 in the opening frame.
- After the Deacs tied the game in the fourth inning, the Irish pen kept them at bay.
- Liam Simon and Aidan Tyrell held the Deacs scoreless over the final 5.1 innings.
- The Irish regained the lead in the seventh as David LaManna scored on a wild pitch.
- Simon set a career high with 3.1 innings pitched to earn his second career win.
- Tyrell earned the save with 2.0 innings of work and allowed just one batter to reach base.
—ND—