NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The 12th-ranked Notre Dame baseball team is back in action for its first midweek contest of the season on Tuesday when it hosts Valparaiso at Frank Eck Stadium. This will be the first of three matchups against Valpo this season with the next coming at home on April 27 and the final matchup on the road on May 11. The Irish (9-3, 9-3 ACC) look to get back on track after dropping the series finale to Duke, ending their seven-game winning streak.
Home Sweet Home
- The Irish are currently in the midst of a long stretch of games at home after not playing a home game since 2019 until the most recent Duke series.
- Heading into the midweek contest on Tuesday, the Irish are in the middle of a seven-game home stand.
- With a quick trip to Pitt mixed in, 11 of the next 14 games for the Irish will be from the friendly confines of Frank Eck Stadium.
- For the first midweek contest of the season, the Irish will host Valpo on Tuesday evening. This will be the first of three contests this season between the two schools.
- Tuesday’s meeting will be the 102nd all-time between the two schools. The Irish hold an 80-21 advantage over Valpo and are 54-10 in games held at Notre Dame.
- The Irish have won the last eight games and 18 of the last 19 games against Valpo.
- Valpo enters the game with a 4-9 record and lost two out of three on the road against Western Kentucky this past weekend.
Weekend Update
- The Irish opened the home slate of the season with a series victory over Duke last week at Frank Eck Stadium.
- With the series win, the Irish have won their fourth-straight series to begin the season and they are the only ACC team to win each of their conference series this season.
- The Irish have won five straight ACC series dating back to the 2020 season. It is the first time they have won five straight conference series since 2005-06 when the Irish won seven-straight conference series spanning between the two seasons.
- The Irish finished the series without committing an error for the second time this season. They ranked first in the ACC and third nationally with a fielding percentage of 0.994 as they have only committed 3 errors in 12 games.
- In Friday’s win, the long ball helped the Irish get back in the game and seal the deal in the 13th inning.
- Niko Kavadas hit his sixth home run of the season to tie the game at 4-4 in the 6th inning.
- In the 13th, Ryan Cole smashed his first career home run over the wall in left to give the Irish a 6-4 win.
- On Saturday, the duo was at it again in the sixth inning after the Irish fell behind 2-1.
- Kavadas belted a three-run homer to left to regain the lead for the Irish.
- Later in the inning, Cole tallied an inside the park home run to put the game out of reach. It was the first inside the park home run for the Irish since 2017.
- The Irish dropped the series finale on Sunday but still walked away with another series win.
Top-25, Here Come The Irish
- Following four-consecutive ACC series wins, with three on the road and a sweep to begin the 2021 season, people are starting to take note of the Irish.
- The Irish continued to rise in all six polls after the series win over Duke to open the home slate.
- The Irish have cracked the Top-15 in four of the six polls with the highest ranking being No. 12 by Baseball America followed by No. 14 from D1Baseball, Perfect Game and the USA Today Coaches Poll.
- The No. 12 ranking is the highest the Irish have been in any poll since April 24, 2006 when they were also ranked No. 12 by Baseball America.
- A week after entering two of the polls after the series win against Clemson, the Irish appeared in all six polls after the road sweep of Virginia.
- In the final week of the 2020 regular season, Notre Dame made their first appearance in the Top-25 when they were selected No. 24 by Collegiate Baseball News.
- It was the first time the Irish were ranked in the Top-25 since the 2015 season, the last time Notre Dame made an NCAA Regional.
FRANK ECK STADIUM ATTENDANCE POLICY
2021 Baseball Media Credentials Info
The University of Notre Dame, in accordance with campus health and safety protocols and with the guidance of local health officials, will limit attendance for sports competing this spring to guests of competing Notre Dame student-athletes and coaches as well as current Notre Dame, Holy Cross and St. Mary’s College students. Students will be expected to show a current I.D. and physically distanced seating will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis. Additional student attendance policies can be found here.
—ND—