NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Hits were hard to come by for the second-ranked Notre Dame baseball team as they fell to No. 13 Florida State 5-2 in the series opener Friday night at Frank Eck Stadium.
After scoring in the first inning, the Irish (24-9, 21-9 ACC) offense was unable to get any other runs across until the final frame. The Seminoles (24-16, 16-12 ACC) scored two runs with two outs in the fourth to take the lead and never looked back. The Noles tacked on three insurance runs in the ninth to seal the series opening win.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish got on the board early, scoring in the bottom of the first inning. The Irish loaded the bases and scored the game’s first run after a sacrifice fly from Jack Brannigan scored Spencer Myers. After the first frame, Notre Dame held a 1-0 lead.
Will Mercer was off to a great start on the mound and did not allow the Noles to get a hit until the fourth inning. In the fourth, they put together a two-out rally to load the bases and scored two runs on a single from Davis Hare. After four innings, the Seminoles led 2-1.
After five innings from Mercer, Tanner Kohlhepp came on in the sixth and kept up the strong work on the mound. He kept the Seminoles off the scoreboard over the next three innings to keep the Irish within one.
The score stayed that way until the ninth inning when Florida State scored three insurance runs in the inning. Elijah Cabell snuck a home run inside the right field foul pole to put the game out of reach.
Notre Dame scored a run in the bottom of the ninth but were unable to put anymore on the board.
UP NEXT
The Irish will look to bounce back Saturday afternoon when the two teams meet again for the second game of the weekend series. LHP John Michael Bertrand will be on the mound for the Irish and will be going up against LHP Bryce Hubbart. The game is set for a 1 p.m. ET first pitch and will be aired on the ACC Network.
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