Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Irish Open Pool Play With Duke

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame baseball team is off for Durham, N.C. to take part in the 2019 ACC Tournament this week. It will be the second-straight year and fourth time overall that the Irish have qualified for the conference tournament since joining the ACC in 2013. The Irish closed the regular season with an 11-5 win over Boston College to clinch the No. 11 seed heading into the tournament. They will open pool play Tuesday night against seven-seed Duke before battling two-seed Georgia Tech on Wednesday afternoon.

No. 11 Notre Dame (24-28, 13-17 ACC) vs. No. 7 Duke (30-24, 15-15 ACC)
When:Tuesday, May 21 | 7:00 p.m. ET
Where:Durham, N.C. | Durham Bulls Athletic Park
Watch:RSN/ACC Network Extra
Live Scoring:Statbroadcast
Tickets:ACC Tournament Tickets
Notes:Notre Dame
Social: @NDBaseball
@NotreDameBaseball

Know the Opponent: Duke Blue Devils 

  • In the opening game of Pool B, the Irish will square off with one of three teams they did not face during the regular season in the Duke Blue Devils.
  • The last time the Irish played Duke was during the 2018 season down in Durham for a three-game series.
  • After a pair of closes losses in games one (4-5) and two (3-6), Duke swept the series with a decisive game three win.
No. 2 Georgia Tech (38-16, 19-11 ACC) vs. No. 11 Notre Dame (24-28, 13-17 ACC)
When:Wednesday, May 22 | 3:00 p.m. ET
Where:Durham, N.C. | Durham Bulls Athletic Park
Watch:RSN/ACC Network Extra
Live Scoring:Statbroadcast
Tickets:ACC Tournament Tickets
Notes:Notre Dame
Social: @NDBaseball
@NotreDameBaseball

Know the Opponent: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

  • In the second game of pool play, the Irish will face a familiar foe in Georgia Tech as the two teams squared off in Atlanta for a three-game series at the end of March.
  • The Irish won their third-straight series opener on the road after winning the first game 9-6 thanks to two timely home runs.
  • After Spencer Myers and Daniel Jung reached base to start the game, freshman Carter Putz sent a first-pitch fastball over the wall in right center for his first career home run.
  • The Yellow Jackets rallied to take the lead in the third but the Irish were threatening in the fifth.
  • Putz and Niko Kavadas had back-to-back hits to bring the go-ahead run to the plate in Eric Gilgenbach.
  • Gilgenbach crushed a 1-1 breaking ball to left for his seventh home run of the season and regained the lead for the Irish.
  • Tommy Vail entered the game in the sixth with a three-run lead, the bases loaded and Georgia Tech’s power threat Kyle McCann at the plate.
  • On the seventh pitch of the at bat, Vail struck out McCann to end the threat and kept the Irish ahead.
  • Vail would be the final pitcher the Irish used as he set down the final nine Georgia Tech batters for his second save of the season.
  • The Irish dropped game two which led to a decisive rubber match on Sunday.
  • Tech jumped out to a five run lead early on but the Irish fought back with seven-unanswered runs to take a 7-5 lead in the eighth.
  • Unfortunately for the Irish, the Yellow Jackets rallied for three runs in the bottom half of the inning and they took the final game by a score of 8-7.

Offense Explodes in Regular Season Finale Against Boston College

  • With conference tournament seeding on the line, the offense lifted the Irish to an 11-5 win over Boston College to secure the 11-seed at the tournament.
  • Notre Dame wasted no time, jumping out in front in the top of the first. Myers led the game off with a walk and Niko Kavadas crushed his team-leading 12th home run of the season over the wall in right to give the Irish an early 2-0 lead.
  • The Irish scored another run in the second and two more in the third thanks to RBI from Myers, Jung and Gilgenbach.
  • After Boston College scored in the bottom half of the third, the Irish immediately got the runs back in the fourth.
  • Daniel Jung got in on the home run party and smashed a two-run shot to right field for his fifth home run of the season.
  • The Eagles had a big inning in the sixth, cutting the deficit down to 10-5 and looked for more but Myers dove to track down a deep fly ball in center to end the inning.
  • Jung tallied his fourth RBI of the afternoon in the seventh to give the Irish some breathing room and the bullpen shut the door for the win.

Bats Come Alive in Road Win Over Northwestern

  • The Irish hit the road for the final week of the regular season and got the trip started with a bang against Northwestern.
  • Notre Dame had one of its best offensive performances of the season en route to a 12-4 road win to sweep the season series against the Wildcats.
  • The Irish plated four runs in the first after a number of hits including Eric Gilgenbach’s first career triple that scored two runs.
  • In the second inning, the Irish had back-to-back solo home runs from Niko Kavadas and Jack Zyska to build an early 6-0 lead.
  • Northwestern answered in the fifth with four runs to cut the deficit to 6-4 but the Irish did not wait long to gain the runs back.
  • Notre Dame answered with three runs in the sixth and seventh to take back control of the game and secure the win.
  • Spencer Myers tallied his first career home run in the sixth when he sent a two-run shot over the wall in right field.
—ND—