SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame (14-8, 2-6 ACC) clinched the series with a 5-2 win over Miami (12-10, 4-4 ACC) Saturday, as RHP Jack Radel, RHP Ricky Reeth and the Irish defense locked it down in the field.
Reeth (1-2) earned the win, pitching a career-high 5.0 innings, while Radel started the game and matched a career-high 4.0 innings. Each gave up just one run.
INF Estevan Moreno made several impact plays on the day, posting four putouts and six assists from second base, also notching two doubles and an RBI. Moreno, DH Brady Gumpf and C Carson Tinney all had multi-hit games.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Miami started off strong, drawing a leadoff walk and following with a single to place two runs on base. Another single pushed runners to second and third, but the batter was caught off base on his way to second, notching the first out of the inning. Miami’s third single of the inning scored the first run of the day. A fielder’s choice meant another out, and Radel struck out the last batter for the third out.
In the bottom of the inning, OF T.J. Williams and OF David Glancy both took HBP as the first two batters, and INF Connor Hincks laid down a sac bunt to push both runners into scoring position. INF Simon Baumgardt sent a fly ball to left field to score Williams and tie the game.
Radel and the Irish sat Miami down in order in the second with Radel adding a strikeout, as Moreno made an impressive grab to secure the second out. In the bottom of the inning, Tinney delivered a two-out single, and Moreno followed with a double to put both in scoring position, but a popup ended the inning.
Both teams went scoreless and hitless in the third. Miami led off the fourth with a single, and after two outs, the Canes drew a walk to place two runners on base. A lineout to Moreno ended the inning, holding Miami off the board for Radel’s third scoreless inning.
INF Jack Penney led off the fourth with a walk, and OF Tito Flores singled to push Penney to second. Gumpf sent an RBI double to score Penney, and the Irish took the lead. Tinney followed it up with a single to drive in Flores. After a double play, Williams singled to score Tinney, and the Irish ended the fourth inning up 4-1.
Reeth entered to pitch for the Irish to begin the fifth. Miami responded in the inning with a leadoff homer to cut the Irish lead to 4-2. Reeth struck out the next batter, and after two singles, a double play from Penney to Moreno to Hincks ended the inning. Notre Dame went three up, three down in the bottom of the inning.
In the top of the sixth, Reeth and the Irish held the Canes off, as a Baumgardt-Moreno-Hincks double play ended the inning. Gumpf led off the bottom of the inning with a single, but a double play forced him out, and a flyout ended the inning.
Miami went three up, three down in the seventh. After a leadoff strikeout, Glancy drew a walk and Hincks singled, with Glancy reaching third on a Baumgardt flyout. Hincks stole second, but another flyout ended the inning still with the 4-2 lead.
Reeth and the Irish made quick work of Miami in the eighth, allowing a single but nothing more. In the bottom of the eighth, Flores drew a leadoff walk, and DM Jefferson entered at DH, also drawing a walk. Pinch hitter INF Casey Kmet sent a fielder’s choice to place runners on first and second, and Moreno doubled, his second of the game, to score Jefferson. A flyout ended the inning with a 5-2 Notre Dame lead.
Reeth and Notre Dame’s defense sat Miami down in order in the ninth, his fourth scoreless inning, to secure the win and series victory.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame will look to earn a third in Sunday’s 1 p.m. ET matchup. RHP Rory Fox will start on the mound for the Irish, facing Miami LHP Herick Hernandez. The game will be broadcast on ACCNX.