April 8, 2016

Weekend Notes Get Acrobat Reader

By Russell Dorn

ACC Series #5: Miami Hurricanes
April 9-10, 2016
1:05 p.m. (DH) / 1:05 p.m. (All ET)
Frank Eck Stadium (Notre Dame, Ind.)

Team Information:
Notre Dame: 16-11, 6-6 ACC (37-23, 17-13 ACC In 2015)
2015 Postseason: 1-2 @ ACC Tourney & 1-2 @ NCAA Champaign Regional

Miami: 24-4, 10-2 ACC (50-16, 22-8 ACC In 2015)
2015 Postseason: 2-1 @ ACC Tournament / 3-1 In NCAA Coral Gables Regional
2-0 In NCAA Coral Gables Super Regional / 1-2 @ College World Series

Rankings: Miami – Ranked between #2 & #3 in all 6 major polls

Game Coverage (Links on UND.com/NDBaseball):
Live Video: ESPN3
Live Audio: WatchND (Chuck Freeby, pbp) & WHME 103.1 FM in South Bend
Live Stats: Gametracker
Twitter Reports: @NDBaseball

Projected Pitching Matchups:
G1: ND RHP Ryan Smoyer (2-3, 3.25 ERA) vs. UM LHP Thomas Woodrey (3-2, 4.89 ERA)
G2: ND LHP Sean Guenther (2-3, 3.68 ERA) vs.UM LHP Michael Mediavilla (5-0, 2.75 ERA)
G3: ND TBD vs. UM LHP Danny Garcia (4-2, 2.63 ERA)

Weather Report (as of Thursday, April 7):
Friday, April 8: 38/22 & Rain/Snow/Wind (70%)
Saturday, April 9: 35/25 & AM Snow Showers (40%)
Sunday, April 10: 49/45 & Rain/Snow/Wind (80%)

Series History: Miami leads 17-6
In ACC Reg. Season Play: Miami leads 2-1
In ACC Tournament Play: Miami leads 1-0
Aoki vs. Miami: 5-10 (4-7 @ BC / 1-3 @ ND)
First Meeting: 3/30/1970: L, 7-3 – Away

Last Four Meetings:
5/23/15: L, 6-5 – Neutral (ACC Tourney)
4/21/2014: L, 6-3 – Away
4/20/2014: W, 7-4 – Away
4/19/2014: L, 3-2 – Away

Marketing & Promotions: Free scarves while supplies last on Saturday

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Fans that make their way out to Frank Eck Stadium this weekend are in for a treat, as the University of Notre Dame baseball team welcomes in No. 2 Miami for another important Atlantic Coast Conference series.

After Miami travel issues prevented the two teams from kicking off the series on Friday, the series will get underway at 1 p.m. (ET) Saturday with a doubleheader.

The meeting between the two teams at The Eck is the first since 1999. Notre Dame visited Coral Gables in its first year in the ACC in 2014. The Irish fell in the series, 2-1, but did pick up the first ACC road win in program history.

Tickets for the series are available at UND.com/buytickets or at the Frank Eck Stadium box office on game day. Adult tickets are $5 per game, while a youth/senior ticket is $3 per game. Irish faculty, staff and students are admitted free with a valid ID.

Here’s what you need to know about the Miami series:

  1. It’s not every day a top-five team comes to Frank Eck Stadium … in fact, No. 2 Miami is the highest ranked team to come to The Eck since well No. 2 Miami in 1999 … in that game, the Irish won 1-0 and came within one out of hurling a combined no-hitter against the Hurricanes, who went on to win the 1999 national championship.
  1. Rookie Matt Vierling (.299 AVG, 3 HR, 16 RBI, 14 BB & 17 R) has been a key part of the offense since day one for Notre Dame, but recently hes had some help from his freshman teammates … since three-year starter at 3B Kyle Fiala went down with an injury in the series finale at Louisville, the duo of Nick Podkul and Cole Daily have been nothing short of sensational … Podkul is splitting .417/.543/.556 with four extra-base hits, seven RBI, seven walks, three hit by pitch and 11 RBI, while Daily is splitting .321/.406/.464 with four doubles, five RBI, four walks and seven runs … in the last 13 games since the injury, the duo is batting .375 with 24 hits, seven doubles, 12 RBI, 11 walks & 18 runs scored.
  1. After entering the 2016 season with only one career homer, sophomore Jake Shepski has been nearly out of this world over the last couple of weeks as all of his team-high five homers this season have come since March 24 … he crushed three bombs in a 16-4 win at Virginia Tech and also tallied homers in wins over Wake Forest and Michigan.
  1. Notre Dame has won eight of its last nine games and is 10-3 in its last 13 games overall … Miami has won eight games in a row and 19 of its last 21 contests.
  1. The Irish have tallied five walk-off wins this season … their most recent is a 6-5 victory vs. Wake Forest last Friday that was the result of a throwing error by a Demon Deacon defender after a 30-minute rain delay … FR Matt Vierling has played a role in two walk offs … he had a solo homer vs. Niagara earlier in the year before putting the ball into play against Wake.
  1. Riding the momentum gained from an outstanding summer league season, senior Ricky Sanchez has been nothing short of outstanding this year … in addition to stepping in at catcher while Ryan Lidge recovered from an injury for 13 games, Sanchez has also made three starts in left field, two in right and six at designated hitter … he leads the team in average (.340) and triples (3) and is having a career year in virtually every offensive category.
  1. Reliever & sometimes starter Peter Solomon has been really impressive in his last three outings after a tough start to 2016 … he picked up his first win of the year at Virginia Tech, earned a save vs. No. 30 Oregon & hurled a complete game in picking up the victory vs. Wake Forest … he has lowered his season ERA from 5.65 to 3.95 during the course of the three appearances and struck out 17 batters compared to just five walks in 13.0 innings of work.

For more information on the Notre Dame baseball team, follow the Irish on Facebook (/NDBaseball), Twitter (@NDBaseball) and Instagram (notredamebaseball).

Russell Dorn, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2011 and coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame volleyball, rowing and baseball programs. A native of Greenwood, South Carolina, Dorn graduated from Furman University in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in history before earning his master’s degree in sports communications from Georgia State University in 2011.

–ND–