NCAA Preview: College World Series

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OMAHA, Neb. — The Notre Dame baseball team is back in Omaha for the third time in program history as they are set to begin the 2022 College World Series on Friday. The Irish first matchup of the World Series is against the No. 9 overall seed Texas Longhorns who are making their 38th appearance at the College World Series. The Irish are sending veteran left-hander John Michael Bertrand to the mound to face off against left-hander Pete Hansen. The Irish and Longhorns will face off in the second game of the day from Charles Schwab Field with an estimated start time of 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Irish Back in Omaha for Third Time in Program History

• The Irish are heading back to Omaha for the first time in 20 years after knocking off the top-ranked Volunteers in the Knoxville Super Regional.
• Notre Dame is the only ACC team that advanced to Omaha after four ACC squads were in the Super Regionals.
• It is the 16th-straight season that an ACC team has advanced to the College World Series.
• Link Jarrett is one of two coaches (Mike Bianco) this season that has been to the College World Series as a player and now coached in the College World Series. Jarrett went three times at Florida State as a player and Bianco went once as a player at LSU.
• The Irish are in the first bracket in Omaha with No. 9 Texas, No. 5 Texas A&M and Oklahoma.
• Three of the four teams in Notre Dame’s side of the bracket had to go on the road to win their Super Regional.
• The Irish and Longhorns are set to meet for the seventh time in program history and the all-time series is tied at 3-3 between the two schools.
• The two teams are meeting for the first time since 1995 and this will be the second time they have faced off in Omaha. The Irish defeated Texas 9-0 in Omaha on June 10, 1957 in the program’s first ever trip to the College World Series.
• Texas enters the College World Series as the No. 9 national seed and a 47-20 record on the season.
• The Longhorns finished fifth in the Big 12 regular season standings but made it to the Big 12 Championship game before falling to Oklahoma.
• Texas went 3-0 in the Austin Regional with wins over Air Force twice and Louisiana Tech. In the Greenville Super Regional, the Longhorns won the final two games to clinch the program’s 38th berth to the College World Series.
• Notre Dame has the best team ERA (3.95) of the eight teams that made it to Omaha. The Irish also hold the best mark of the Omaha teams in hits allowed per 9 innings (7.67) and WHIP (1.29).

Irish Clinch Omaha Berth with 7-3 Comeback Win Over #1 Vols

• The Irish finished off the upset of the season in college baseball as they knocked off the top-ranked Volunteers, 7-3, to advance to the College World Series.
• The Irish overcame an 3-1 deficit heading into the seventh as they scored three runs in the seventh and three in the eighth to pull away.
• Tennessee had been 49-0 this season when leading after six innings as they Irish handed the Vols their first loss of the year after leading through six innings.
• Facing the 3-1 deficit in the seventh, David LaManna tied the score at 3 with his second home run of the season.
• Jack Brannigan went back-to-back with LaManna and his solo blast gave the Irish their first lead of the game.
• Notre Dame added three runs in the eighth after a 2-RBI double by Carter Putz and an RBI single from Jack Zyska.
• Jack Findlay had come out of the pen in the fifth inning and he shut the Volunteer lineup down to close out the game. 
• He earned his sixth win of the season after 5.0 innings of scoreless relief and just allowed one hit to one of the best lineups in college baseball. 
• In the postseason for Findlay, he has earned three saves and a win and has closed out both the Regional and Super Regional for the Irish.
• He has pitched 10.1 innings in total in the postseason and has allowed just one run three hits over four appearances. 
• With the win, Notre Dame was the only team to win a series in Knoxville this season. 
• The Irish also reached the 40-win plateau for the first time since the 2006 season.

Irish Open Super Regional with 8-6 Win Over #1 Tennessee

• Notre Dame sent shockwaves across college baseball as they took down No. 1 Tennessee, 8-6, in the first game of the Knoxville Super Regional.
• Heading into the contest, Tennessee was 37-3 at home this season and had won 11-straight games.
• The Irish hit four home runs in the win, the most home runs Tennessee had allowed all season.
• All four home runs for the Irish came within the first four innings. Carter Putz hit a two-run home run in the first, Jared Miller added a solo shot in the second, Jack Zyska hit a two-run homer in the third and Jack Brannigan capped it off with a three-run blast in the fourth.
• It was the first time since 2002 that the Irish had knocked off the No. 1 team in the country. The highest ranked team the Irish beat during that stretch was No. 3 Mississippi State in the Super Regional last season.
• The Irish handed Tennessee their first loss at home in the postseason since 2001.
• It was also Tennessee’s first loss in the Super Regional round in program history. They were 6-0 all-time in super regional games heading into the weekend.

Among the Nation’s Best

• Since the start of the 2020 season, the Irish have been one of the most consistent teams over the past three seasons.
• Notre Dame is 85-30, good for a .739 winning percentage over that period.
• That ranks second overall in the NCAA, trailing only Tennessee.

• Among ACC teams, the Irish have the best winning percentage over the past three seasons.

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