PREVIEW: Notre Dame Hosts Michigan State

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (17-12) are back at Frank Eck Stadium after a three-game road series at Pitt. The Irish host Michigan State (18-10) in their sixth midweek matchup of the season on Tuesday, April 11 at 6:00 p.m.

Live Stats | ACCNX | Game Notes

Michigan State Matchup at Frank Eck

• This is the 141st matchup between the Irish and the Spartans as Notre Dame hosts Michigan State at Frank Eck Stadium on Tuesday.
• The Irish trail the overall series 59-81, going 35-38 at home, 23-38 at MSU, and are 1-4 at neutral sites.
• Notre Dame faced Michigan State three times last season, winning two of the three matchups. 
• The Irish had their most recent win over the Spartans in the last matchup between the two squads on May 10, 2022 in South Bend, as the Irish won 15-6.
• Brooks Coetzee and Jack Zyska each had a team-high three hits in the win. Carter Putz and Coetzee had a team-high three runs that tied a career high.
• Jack Findlay had one of the best starts of his young career against the Spartans. He set career highs at the time with 4.0 innings pitched and eight strikeouts. He only allowed two runners to reach base and did not allow a hit as he collected his fifth win of the season.
• The Irish head into the matchup with Carter Putz leading the way with a team-high .303 battting average, recording a team-high 33 hits and 22 RBI for Notre Dame so far this year. 
• Zack Prajzner has tallied a team best 24 runs, while also batting .268 with 30 hits and 13 RBI. Prajzner and Putz are both leading the team with eight doubles a piece. Jack Penney is leading the Irish with seven home runs this season, followed by Putz with five homers. 

Conference Play Resumes at Pitt

• The Irish took the series at Pitt after winning games one and two on Thursday and Friday. After winning 10-8 in game one, the Irish took game two 11-2 after a big offensive frame in the ninth. The Irish fell short of the sweep as they dropped Sunday’s game 9-5 against the Panthers.
• A six-run first inning gave the Irish an early advantage in game one as Danny Neri capped off the scoring frenzy with his fourth home run of the year in the top of the first. 
• Jack Penney led off the second with his seventh home run of the season as he homered to right center to tack on another run for Notre Dame and make it a score of 7-2.
• The Panthers were able to close the gap to 10-8 with just one out in the bottom of the ninth as Sammy Cooper would come in to close for the Irish. 
• Pitt chopped a ground ball to Penney at third who turned a double play to preserve the Irish lead. Cooper picked up his second save of the season as Notre Dame took home the 10-8 victory to open the series.
• Jackson Dennies started on the mound in game two and finished the day pitching 4.2 innings, recording six strikeouts, and allowing no runs and just one hit.
• Leading 4-1 heading into the top of the ninth, the Irish offense dominated in the final inning scoring seven runs off of six hits in the frame to go on and take the 11-2 win.

Irish Take on Northwestern

• The Irish are now five-for-five in midweek matchups as they defeated the Northwestern Wildcats 12-0 on Tuesday, April 4 at Frank Eck.
• Notre Dame is now 6-3 after their second shutout win of the season. 
• Jack Penney recorded his sixth homerun of the year in the bottom of the seventh and Joey Spence would record his first career home run in the bottom of the eight for a two-run homerun to extend the Irish lead 12-0 heading into the ninth.
• The Irish will face the Wildcats again on the road on Tuesday, May 16. 

UNC Heads to South Bend for Another ACC Series 

• The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (14-11) dropped the three-game series at Frank Eck as they fell to No. 13 North Carolina (20-8) in games one and two of the series. 
• Looking for redemption after a tough loss to the Tar Heels on Friday night, the Irish fell 5-2 in the first game of day, but were able to take home the final game in a 9-1 victory on the home turf. 
• Jackson Dennies recorded a career-high seven strikeouts across 4.2 innings in the game three win. He also allowed just two hits, while giving up no runs and walking no batters. 
• Vinny Martinez had himself a weekend at the plate, recording five hits and five runs on the weekend, as well as three home runs and seven RBI.

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 career-high four 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.