NOTRE DAME, Ind. — One week later than expected, the Notre Dame baseball team is on the road to begin the 2021 season. The Irish head south to Winston-Salem to take on the 16th-ranked Demon Deacons as the ACC slate begins this weekend. The series with Wake Forest starts a conference schedule that has 12 series instead of the usual 10 and the Irish will play every team in the ACC over the next few months except Miami. Head coach Link Jarrett enters his second season with the Irish and looks to keep the momentum going from the 2020 season when the Irish went 11-2 and won their final seven games of the season.
Irish Open 2021 Slate In Winston-Salem
- The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will open the 2021 slate down in Winston-Salem as ACC play begins.
- The Irish and Demon Deacons will square off for the first time since March of 2019 when the Irish began their spring break trip with a series win over Wake.
- Notre Dame won the first game of the series 7-4 after a late rally from the Irish. Niko Kavadas belted a three-run go-ahead home run in the eighth to regain and hold the lead for the Irish.
- After dropping the second game, Notre Dame once again had a comeback and won the rubber match 8-7 in extra innings. The Irish plated three runs in the ninth to tie the game at 7 and tallied one in the 10th after Brooks Coetzee beat the throw home. Mitch Megias shut the Deacs down in the 10th to clinch the series and his first career win.
- Wake leads the all-time series 15-9 but the Irish have claimed the last two series between the two teams.
Kavadas Brings the Power
- Heading into his senior season, Niko Kavadas returns as one of best sluggers in the ACC.
- He has earned two preseason All-American honors from Perfect Game (Second Team) and Baseball America (Third Team).
- In 2020, he tied for the conference lead with seven home runs and led the league with 0.54 home runs per game. His 0.54 mark ranked fifth nationally.
- Kavadas was named one of Collegiate Baseball’s National Players of the Week last season after a four home run and nine RBI weekend in a series sweep over Presbyterian.
- Niko has 24 career home runs heading into 2021 which is nine shy of 10th place all-time at Notre Dame.
Speedy Spencer
- Although the 2020 season was shortened, senior outfielder Spencer Myers made a name for himself on the base paths.
- Only playing in 12 games in 2020, Myers amassed 15 steals which was the top mark in the NCAA at the end of the season.
- Myers also led the country in steals per game with 1.25, the only player in Division I with a rate higher than 1.0.
- In the series finale against Presbyterian, Myers swiped six bags in the game and it was the most by an Irish player in the past 14 years.
- Myers was also a thorn in pitchers’ sides at the plate in 2020. He finished the year with a .431 batting average which ranked tied for the third in the ACC.
- Myers heads into the 2021 season with 41 career stolen bases which is four shy of 10th all-time at Notre Dame.
Jack of All Trades
- Sophomore Jack Brannigan was the swiss army knife in his first season for the Irish.
- He started all 13 games at third base while making four appearances on the mound.
- At the plate, Brannigan finished with a .255/.356./.426 line with a team-high 14 runs, 12 hits, 11 RBI and one home run.
- On the mound, he finished with a 1-0 record and 1.93 ERA.
- He put the stamp on the weekend sweep of North Carolina with a straight steal home in the 14-8 win.
- Following the season, Brannigan was named a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball. It was the first Irish to earn Freshman All-America since Matt Vierling back in 2016.
Irish Find Missing Link
- In his first season at the helm of the Irish, head coach Link Jarrett made an instant impact on the Irish offense.
- The Irish finished the season with a .302 team batting average that ranked fifth in the ACC.
- The Irish finished fourth in the league in on-base percentage (.414) and slugging percentage (.485).
- The Irish finished top-three or better in a number of offensive categories in the conference including steals per game (1st, 2.69), RBI per game (2nd, 7.85), runs per game (3rd, 8.92) and home runs per game (3rd, 1.23).
- Spencer Myers finished the year with a .431 batting average which was tied for third in the conference.
- The Irish scored eight or more runs in 10 of 13 games last season, including every game of the seven game winning streak.
- Notre Dame was 10-0 in games in which they scored eight or more runs.
Plenty of New Faces
- Heading into the 2021 season, a number of new faces will be donning Irish uniforms.
- A total of 18 new players join the roster including five graduate transfers, two junior college transfers and 11 freshmen.
- Of the incoming transfer class, five of the seven are pitchers that include RHP Christian Scafidi, LHP John Michael Bertrand, LHP Joe Sheridan, LHP James Hulbert and RHP Tanner Kohlhepp. The group brings a total of 507.1 collegiate innings pitched to the Irish pitching staff.
- The incoming freshman class also includes a pool of talented players including Gatorade Pitcher of the Year from Indiana LHP Ryan Lynch, C Danny Neri who was a 2x Under Armour All-American and OF Brady Gumpf, the son of longtime Irish softball coach Deanna Gumpf.
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