SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame Fighting (12-9) Irish defeated the No. 2 Louisville Cardinals (19-4) in a historic fashion, taking the first game of the series on Friday, March 24 and the first game of the doubleheader on Sunday, March 26.
The 5-4 win on Sunday afternoon clinched the first-ever home series win over Louisville in program history. After falling 2-1 in the second game of the doubleheader, the Irish are now 4-5 in conference as they prep for another ACC matchup against UNC this weekend at Frank Eck.
GAME ONE
The Cardinals would put their first run of the day on the board on the first pitch of the game as they opened up with a home run to right field to take an early 1-0 lead. Jack Findlay (4-0, 2.57) started on the mound for Notre Dame, recording his first strikeout of the day against the next batter faced.
It was three up, three down for the Irish in the bottom of the first, which was followed by another three up, three down for Louisville in the top of the second as Findlay opened up the inning with another strikeout. Brooks Coetzee led off in the bottom of the inning for Notre Dame and recorded a base hit through the left side, followed by a stolen base at second with Estevan Moreno at the plate. The Cardinals walked two batters to load the bases, but the Irish were unable to capitalize as they trailed 1-0 headed into the third.
While Jack Zyska recorded his first hit of the day in the bottom of the inning, it was a scoreless third across the board for Notre Dame and Louisville. The Cardinals would tack on one more run in the fourth to extend their lead 2-0 and were just as solid defensively in the inning, as they struck out on the side to close the fourth. Leading off the top of the fifth with another home run, Louisville led 3-0.
Notre Dame wasn’t going anywhere, as the Irish bats started to get hot in the fifth. Notre Dame would score all five of their runs in the bottom of the inning. The Irish’s five runs would come off of just three three hits, all of which were home runs.
Jack Penney got the party started as he sent the ball deep over the left field fence to record his team-high fourth homer of the year. Zack Prajzner and Zyska both reached on walks before Carter Putz stepped up to the plate. He, too, would tally his fourth home run of the year, as he crushed it to center field for a 3-RBI homer to give the Irish a 4-3 lead. Just when you think it couldn’t get any more exciting, Coetzee stepped up for back-to-back Irish home runs, as he sent it deep to left center field for his first home run of the season.
Leading 5-4, the sixth and seventh were scoreless frames for the Irish and Cardinals, as Carter Bosch relieved Findlay in the top of the sixth and Will Mercer took the mound to start the eighth. Louisville was looking to close the gap in the eighth inning as they reached on a fielding error, followed by a base hit to put runners on first and second. The Irish walked the next batter to make it bases loaded and with back-to-back walks, the Cardinals would add another run to the board to make it a 5-4 ballgame. DM Jefferson would record a base hit in the bottom of the inning, but it was another scoreless frame for the Irish as they needed to hold off the Cardinals in the top of the ninth. Notre Dame went three up, three down to close the inning and take home the series win.
Findlay finished his fourth win of the season pitching 5.1 innings, recording nine strikeouts while allowing three runs off of six hits. Bosch pitched 1.2 innings, giving up just one hit and no runs before he was relieved by Mercer. Mercer recorded his second save of the season as he pitched 2.0 innings, allowing no runs and one hit.
GAME TWO
Blake Hely started on the mound in the second game of the day and was making it tough for the Louisville offense as he recorded five strikeouts across the first two innings.
It was a slow offensive start for Notre Dame as well, as the Irish recorded just one base hit from Putz in the first two innings. The Cardinals were able to score their first run in the top of the third to take the 1-0 lead.
Penney led off for the Irish in the top of the fourth. Eager to get the bats going, he singled through the right side to start things off. Prajzner followed the base hit with a double in the right center gap to send Penney to third. With runners in scoring position, Zyska recorded a groundout RBI to score Penney and tie it up at 1-1 heading into the fifth.
The Cardinals would score their second run of the day in the sixth inning after being hit by the pitch with bases loaded. After scoreless frames in the seventh and eighth for both squads, the Irish had one more inning to overcome the 2-1 deficit.
While Louisville recorded two base hits in the top of the inning, Notre Dame was able to hold them scoreless and still trailed by one. Prajzner would single through the left side to reach first, but a fly out to center field and a line out to shortstop would prevent the Irish sweep as they dropped game three in a close 2-1 loss.
Hely finished the day with six strikeouts across 4.0 innings, allowing one run off of four hits. He was relieved by Radek Birkholz who finished with the loss (0-2, 7.71) after pitching two innings and giving up just one run and one hit. Matt Bedford took the bump to pitch 0.1 innings before Ryan Lynch came on in relief to throw 2.1 innings. Lynch finished with three strikeouts and two hits on the day as he was relieved by Sammy Cooper, who recorded the final out after pitching 0.1 innings.
UP NEXT
The Irish are back at home for a mid-week matchup against Butler on Tuesday, March 28, before resuming conference play on Friday for a three-game series against UNC at Frank Eck.