CLEMSON, S.C. – The Notre Dame baseball team is winding down its spring break road trip and will close it out with a three-game series Clemson. The 12th-ranked Tigers are on a six-game winning streak, including a three-game sweep of No. 3 North Carolina, and the Irish are coming of a road series win over Wake Forest. The three-game set will begin Friday night at 6 p.m. ET and all three games will be broadcast on the ACC Network Extra.
| Notre Dame (6-9, 2-1 ACC) vs. No. 12 Clemson (13-3, 3-0 ACC) | |
| When: | Friday, March 15 | 6:00 p.m. ET Saturday, March 16 | 3:00 p.m. ET Sunday, March 17 | 1:00 p.m. ET |
| Where: | Clemson, S.C. | Doug Kingsmore Stadium |
| Watch: | ACC Network Extra – Friday ACC Network Extra – Saturday ACC Network Extra – Sunday |
| Live Scoring: | Statbroadcast |
| Notes: | Notre Dame |
| Social: | @NDBaseball @NotreDameBaseball |
Know the Opponent: Clemson Tigers
- The Irish will make their third trip all-time to Clemson to finish off their spring break road trip.
- After joining the ACC for the 2014 season, the Irish won the series with the Tigers the first two seasons, with Clemson taking the series each of the last three years.
- Last season, the Irish defeated the sixth-ranked Tigers to open the series before dropping the final two games.
- This will be the second time the Irish play in the state of South Carolina this season, as they played in the Swig & Swine Classic March 1-3 in Charleston.
Kavadas’ Power Surge Continues
- In their midweek matchup against Western Carolina, Niko Kavadas made his presence felt in the eighth inning.
- The Irish were in the midst of a rally after falling behind early and Kavadas stepped to the plate as the tying run with the bases were loaded.
- The sophomore turned on the 0-1 pitch and sent the Irish dugout in a frenzy as it easily cleared the wall and landed in the woods in right field for a grand slam to tie the game.
- It was Kavadas’ first career grand slam and his fifth home run of the season, tying his home run total from last season.
- Kavadas is tied with Eric Gilgenbach for the team lead in home runs and he set a career high with four RBI against the Catamounts.
Prolific Putz
- One of the incoming freshmen that looked to make an immediate impact for the Irish was infielder Carter Putz.
- In the last 11 games, Putz has been the most consistent hitter for the Irish.
- He is hitting a team-high .400 (16-for-40) and had an eight game hitting streak over that span, the longest by any player this season.
- Splitting starts between second base and DH, Putz has also scored a team high nine runs over that span and a .444 on-base percentage to lead the team.
Kmet a Workhorse for the Irish
- Through the first 15 games of the Irish season, LHP Cole Kmet has done it all for the Irish.
- From middle relief, to closer, to starter, Kmet has eight appearances over the first 15 games.
- He has tallied 18.2 innings of work (tied for third best) and has a team-leading 2.89 ERA and 27 strikeouts (second on the team) with two saves.
- The lefty recorded 11 strikeouts in his start against Ball State, a career high and the most by an Irish pitcher since 2012, in 7.1 innings of work.
- Kmet had a stretch of four appearances of out the pen without allowing a hit or a walk over 6.1 innings of work while tallying 11 strikeouts in that span.
- He earned his second save of the season against Wake Forest with two innings of shutdown work after Kavadas gave the Irish the lead in the eighth.
–ND–