PREVIEW: North Carolina

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The Fighting Irish (13-9, 4-5 ACC) are back into ACC play as they host the No. 13 North Carolina Tar Heels (18-7, 4-3 ACC) at Frank Eck for a three game series this weekend. The Irish are coming off of a 4-0 win over Butler on Tuesday, and a historic series win over No. 2 Louisville  at Frank Eck last weekend.

Notre Dame Baseball Game Notes

Friday | Live Stats | ACCNX

Saturday | Live Stats | ACCNX

Sunday | Live Stats | ACCNX

UNC Heads to South Bend for Another ACC Series 

• Notre Dame has won five of their last six games as they head into the weekend series against UNC. 
• This will be the 20^th matchup between the Irish and Tar Heels as Notre Dame leads the overall series 12-7. The Irish are 7-2 at home, 4-2 at UNC, and 1-3 at neutral sites. 
• The last matchup between the two was in the ACC Tournament in Charlotte, NC, as Notre Dame fell 7-2 to the eventual ACC Tournament champs in the semifinals.
• Prior to the loss in the ACC Tournament, Notre Dame had won the last seven games against the Tar Heels from 2019-2021.
• This is the first regular season game between the two squads since a three-game series in South Bend on April 30, 2021 – May 2, 2021. The Irish swept the series with a 4-0 win in game one, 13-12 win in game two, and 19-5 win in game three. 

Midweek Matchup at Frank Eck Against Butler 

• The Irish are 4-for-4 in their midweek matchups so far this season, with two neutral site wins over Saint Joseph’s in Holly Springs, a win over Valpo in the 2023 home opener, and a 4-0 win over Butler at Frank Eck.
• Jackson Dennies started on the mound as he recorded a career-high six strikeouts across a season-high 4.0 innings pitched.

Irish Make History in Series Win Over No. 2 Louisville

• The Notre Dame Fighting (12-9) Irish defeated the No. 2 Louisville Cardinals (19-4) in a historic fashion, taking the first game of the series on Friday, March 24 and the first game of the doubleheader on Sunday, March 26.
• The 5-4 win on Sunday afternoon clinched the first-ever home series win over Louisville in program history. After falling 2-1 in the second game of the doubleheader, the Irish are now 4-5 in conference.
• In game one, Notre Dame trailed 2-0 heading into the fifth.
• The Irish held Louisville scoreless in the top of the inning, while the Irish offense really started to get hot in the bottom of the frame. The Irish led off with singles from DM Jefferson and TJ Williams, and a sac bunt from Jack Penney would put runners on second and third for Notre Dame.
• Zack Prajzner scored both as he doubled down the left field line to add two Irish runs to the board and make it an even 2-2 ballgame. Zyska followed with a double of his own as he sent it to the wall in the left field gap to score Prajzner and take the lead 3-2.
• The Cardinals would score another run in the top of the sixth to tie it up at 3-3.
• The Irish immediately responded as Estevan Moreno ripped a home run to deep left, his second of the season, to put the Irish back on top at 4-3 and lead them to eventual 4-3 victory to take game one.
• In Saturday’s doubleheader, the Cardinals would put their first run of the day on the board on the first pitch of the game as they opened up with a home run to right field to take an early 1-0 lead. And after leading off the top of the fifth with another home run, Louisville led 3-0.
• Notre Dame wasn’t going anywhere, as the Irish bats started to get hot in the fifth. Notre Dame would score all five of their runs in the bottom of the inning. The Irish’s five runs would come off of just three three hits, all of which were home runs. Jack Penney would hit the first homer, followed by back-to-back home runs from Carter Putz and Brooks Coetzee.
• The five-run inning lifted the Irish to a 5-4 win to clinch the series win over the Cardinals.

Notre Dame Opens up at Home Against Valparaiso

• The Notre Dame Fighting Irish took down the Beacons in the 106^th matchup between Valpo and Notre Dame as the Irish lead the overall series 86-21 with the very first game taking place on May 14, 1918.
• The Irish defeated Valpo in a 8-4 victory in their home opener on Tuesday, March 21 at Frank Eck. 
• Both graduate students, Zack Prajzner and Jack Zyska both recorded their first home runs of the season in Tuesday’s win. Prajzner’s homer to left field came in the bottom of the third and Zyska followed with his left field home run in the bottom of the fourth. 
• David Lally Jr. made his second career start on the mound, throwing 2.1 innings before he was relieved in the third inning by Carter Bosch.  Bosch recorded a season-high six strikeouts across 3.2 innings and gave up no runs while allowing only two hits. Sammy Cooper came in to close in the top of the seventh, taking home his second win of the season.

Irish Resume Conference Play at No. 4 Wake Forest

• The Notre Dame Fighting Irish finished the series 2-1 at no. 4 Wake Forest last weekend after falling in both doubleheader games on Saturday, but taking home Sunday’s game in a 3-1 victory. 
• The Irish are now 9-8 on the year and 2-4 in the ACC after the road series. 
• Due to Friday’s game being postponed for inclement weather, the Irish and Demon Deacons played a doubleheader on Saturday, March 18. 
• Wake Forest took game one 4-1 and game two 12-3.
• Jackson Dennies started on the mound for the Irish in game one, finishing the day with three strikeouts while allowing two runs and five hits across 3.2 innings pitched. 
• Aidan Tyrell came in relief with two outs in the bottom of the fourth, throwing 3.1 innings, recording four strikeouts, and giving up just one run and one hit.
• Trailing 1-0 heading into the top of the third, Danny Neri led off for the Irish with a double down the left field line and advanced to third on a sac bunt from TJ Williams. Estevan Moreno followed with his first hit of the day as he singled through the left side to score Neri for Notre Dame’s only run of the game
• The Irish struggled to score in game two on Saturday. Trailing 12-1 heading into the top of the ninth, Connor Hincks singled to center field for his first career hit and was sent home on a two-run home run from Tony Lindwedel. Lindwedel’s first career home run would close the gap to 12-3 as Wake Forest took home the second game of the series.
• Wake Forest was undefeated 14-0 at home so far this season until Notre Dame took game three with a score of 3-1.
• The Irish offense sparked in the top of the second with a double to right center from Carter Putz, who scored after Jack Zyska hit a single to left field. 
• The Irish posted an early 1-0 lead, while Findlay continued to shut down the Demon Deacons from the mound as he closed the first two innings with three strikeouts.
• DM Jefferson started the third with a lead-off single to center field and advanced to second on a passed ball with TJ Williams up to bat. Jefferson was able to score and tack on another run for the Irish as an RBI single from Brooks Coetzee brought Jefferson home for the 2-0 lead.
• Coetzee led off the sixth with a double to right center field, which was followed by a walk from Putz. With runners on first and second and Jack Penney up to bat, Coetzee was able to steal third on a wild pitch. Penney reached on a fielder’s choice, recording an RBI as Coetzee ran home to give the Irish a 3-0 edge heading into the bottom of the sixth.
• Findlay recorded his 10th strikeout of the day before he was relieved by Blake Hely with two outs in the sixth. Findlay absolutely dominated from the mound, throwing 10 strikes across 5.2 innings and allowing just two hits and no runs.

Midweek matchup in Holly Springs

• The Irish took down the Hawks on Tuesday, March 14, and Wednesday, March 15, in their first midweek matchup of the year. 
• Notre Dame defeated Saint Joseph’s 6-3 on Tuesday and 10-9 on Wednesday at Ting Stadium in Holly Springs, NC..
• Matt Bedford made his first start of the year in game one and freshman David Lally Jr. made his first career start on the mound in game two.
• Carter Putz recorded his second home run of the year in game one with a 440’ rocket to right field in the game one win.
• The Irish took game two in a close 10-9 win, finishing the game with a bases loaded walk-off HBP as Coetzee was hit by the pitch for the fourth time that game for the walk-off win.
• Putz, Penney, and Neri each recorded their third home runs of the year in game two against Saint Joseph’s.

Conference Play Opens Up at Georgia Tech

• The Notre Dame Fighting Irish start the 2023 conference season 1-2 in the ACC after falling in games one and two, but taking home game three against the Yellow Jackets on the road.
• The Irish fell in a close one on Friday night (March 10) at Russ Chandler Stadium. While the Irish trailed 2-0 early, a strong fifth inning that included five singles allowed Notre Dame to put four runs on the board to take the lead 4-3. However, the bottom of the seventh inning would lift the Yellow Jackets to the 7-4 victory in game one.
• Due to Sunday’s weather, a double header was played on Saturday where the Yellow Jackets took the first game of the day 15-2.
• While the Irish struggled to find the strike zone, the Yellow Jackets were hot from the plate, bringing in nine runs in the first three innings.
• The Fighting Irish scored their first run of the day in the top of the third after Estevan Moreno singled up the middle and was sent home from an RBI double down the right field line from Jack Penney.
• The Yellow Jackets would tack on another two runs in the bottom of the fourth to extend the lead 11-1 and wouldn’t score again until the bottom of the seventh.
• Freshman Caden Spivey made his debut on the mound in the bottom of the fourth, striking out his very first batter faced. Spivey allowed only one hit and gave up no runs in his two innings pitched.
• Norte Dame wasn’t going anywhere though, as they came out strong to start the second game of the day and went on to take the final game 17-4. The Irish finished with 16 hits, their best offensive outing of the season.
• Zack Prajzner started the Irish offense with a double to left field, followed by a base hit from Brooks Coetzee. Nick Juaire reached first after being hit by a pitch and it was bases loaded for the Irish. Jack Zyska was walked in his first at bat of the game, which scored Prajzner and put Notre Dame on the board 1-0.
• Jack Penney stepped up to the plate with bases loaded and two outs and crushed a ball down the right field line for a grand slam. Penney’s second home run of the season scored Coetzee, Juaire, and Zyska to give the Irish the 5-0 advantage after one.
• Leading 5-2 heading into the third, Carter Putz led off and started the inning with his first home run of the season with a 418’ homer to deep center field. Juaire followed with a base hit to left field and scored on an RBI double from Penny, his fifth RBI of the game.
• Jackson Dennies started on the mound for the Irish, pitching 2.2 innings, throwing three strikeouts, and giving up three runs.
• Dennies would give up one run in the bottom of the third before he was relieved by Aidan Tyrell, who finished with a game-high five strikeouts. Tyrell allowed no runs and only gave two hits across four innings pitched.
• Vinny Martinez kept the offense going with a 434’ rocket out to left field, his first home run of the season with the Irish in the top of the seventh. Notre Dame tacked on another five runs in the seventh to take home the 17-4 victory.

Irish Travel to UAB

• The Irish took home their second series win of the season after taking down the Blazers 2-1 last weekend in Birmingham, AL.
• Danny Neri led the Irish against UAB, batting .500 (4-8 at the plate) and scoring three runs. Neri finished with a triple, a home run, and three RBI.
• Zack Prajzner batted .333 on the weekend recorded three hits and two runs. Pinch hitter Nick Juaire came in and went 2-2 at the plate and scored one run while also recording two RBI.
• The Irish took home game one of the series 7-2 on Friday, March 3 at Young Memorial Field after tallying runs in each of the first three innings and out-hitting the Blazers 10-5 on Friday. Jack Findlay (2-0) took home his second win of the season, finishing with six strikeouts on the day.
• Game two went to the Irish 7-3 after trailing 3-0 to start the top of the sixth. Notre Dame scored six runs in the top of the sixth, including a first career home run from Estevan Moreno. Will Mercer took home his first win of the season in game two.
• The Irish fell 5-2 in game three, falling to 5-4 on the season.

Notre Dame Wins First Series of the Year at UNCG

• The Notre Dame baseball team won their first series of the 2023 season after taking down UNCG on the road. 
• Carter Putz led the way for the Irish,  batting .400 on the weekend, finishing with four hits and three runs. 
• The Irish took home game one on Friday, Feb. 17 in a 6-5 win after Danny Neri stepped up to the plate and homered to right field. After an even ballgame at 4-4 heading into the top of the ninth, Neri’s homerun scored Putz and added two more runs to the board. 
• Findlay’s three strikeouts in the bottom of the ninth closed out Notre Dame’s game one win.
• Despite falling 12-0 to UNCG on Saturday, the Irish responded with a game three win 7-4 over Sunday to take the series.
• The Irish struck first as grad students Zack Prajzner and Brooks Coetzee got the Notre Dame offense rolling. Coetzee recorded an RBI single to send Prajzner home and put the Irish on the board. Notre Dame held the Spartans scoreless the first three innings and led 1-0 to start the fourth.
• Notre Dame scored another four runs in the top of the fourth with runs from Prajzner, Putz, Penney, and Martinez.
• Bedford, who got the win for Notre Dame, dominated at the hill for the Irish. He threw four strikeouts over three innings and allowed no runs and only one hit. 

Irish Open Campaign at Lipscomb

• The Notre Dame baseball team took on the Lipscomb Bisons for just the second time in program history Feb. 17-19 in Nashville, Tennessee. 
• The Irish fell 5-4 in game one despite scoring two runs in the top of the ninth to close the gap within one. 
• Norte Dame bounced back in game two, defeating the Bison 8-4 after a big seven-run inning in the top of the seventh. 
• Despite taking home game two, the Irish struggled to connect at the plate and fell in game three 4-2, falling to 1-2 to start the 2023 season. 
• With only 10 hits as a team on the weekend, TJ Williams and Jack Penney both hit their first home runs of the 2023 season.
• Freshmen Rory Fox and David Lally Jr. made their debuts on the mound on Sunday, as well as graduate transfers Carter Bosch and Blake Hely who pitched in an Irish uniform for the first time.