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Series Preview: Boston College

Notre Dame Game Notes

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The sixth-ranked Notre Dame baseball team is heading down the back end of the ACC schedule as they hit the road for their second to last conference road series this weekend. The Irish are shipping up to Boston College to take on the Eagles for a three-game series in Chestnut Hill. The series begins Friday night from Harrington Athletics Village at 5:30 p.m. ET and the entire series will be broadcast on the ACC Network Extra.

Shipping Up To Boston

  • Notre Dame has won its previous four road conference series this season, with the last one coming at No. 17 Pitt in the beginning of April. 
  • The Irish have a 9-3 road record this season after series wins against No. 16 Wake Forest, Clemson, No. 17 Pitt and a series sweep of No. 21 Virginia.
  • Dating back to last season, the Irish have won their last five conference road series for the first time since joining the ACC. They have not accomplished that feat since the 2000 and 2001 season when they won six conference road series in a row between the two seasons.
  • The Irish and Eagles are meeting for the 51st time in program history this weekend in Chestnut Hill 
  • The Irish hold a 33-17 advantage in the all-time series and are 13-8 in games held up at BC.
  • The Eagles enter the series with a 16-18 record and a 5-16 mark in the league. They are coming off a midweek win over Rhode Island on Wednesday.
  • Notre Dame enters the weekend still holding the No. 1 ranking in the country fielding percentage with a 0.988 mark after having just 12 errors in 25 games this season.

Bats Come Alive in Rubber Match Win over Wolfpack

  • Over the first two games of the series, the Irish offense only scored five runs but that changed quickly in the 11-2 rubber match win over the Wolfpack.
  • Some of the nation’s best defense was on display in the top of the first as Spencer Myers made a jumping catch at the wall to end the inning with the bases loaded and no runs scored for the Wolfpack.
  • In the bottom of the first, Notre Dame plated three runs after an RBI single from Carter Putz and a two-RBI double from Brooks Coetzee.
  • The Wolfpack pulled within two at 3-1 after the top of the fifth but the Irish offense came alive over the final four innings. 
  • They scored in each of the final four innings, including crooked numbers in the sixth and seventh inning. 
  • In the seventh inning, Jack Brannigan broke the game open with a three-run home run to extend the Irish lead to 10-1.
  • Zack Prajzner and Niko Kavadas also belted home runs in the win, the fourth game this season the Irish have hit three or more home runs.
  • For Kavadas it was his 13th home run of the season and the 37th of his career, putting him in a tie for third for most home runs all-time in an Irish career.
  • With the win, the Irish improved to 4-0 in rubber matches this season and 6-0 in games following a loss.
  • The Irish also scored in double figures for the sixth game this season and three of those instances have come in rubber match wins.

Irish Come From Behind to Beat NC State

  • Heading into the weekend series with NC State, the Wolfpack came into town one of the hottest teams in the ACC. They carried a six-game winning streak and had won 10 of their previous 12 games heading into the weekend.
  • The Wolfpack jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the second inning and held the lead until the fifth inning.
  • The Irish had two runners in scoring position with two outs when Jack Brannigan singled up the middle to score Carter Putz and Ryan Cole to tie the game at 2-2.
  • The score stayed that way until the eighth inning when the Irish loaded the bases with one out. Brannigan took an 0-2 pitch off his shoulder that brought in TJ Williams as the go-ahead run.
  • Tanner Kohlhepp closed the game off with his fourth inning of scoreless relief to give the Irish the series opening win. Kohlhepp only allowed one hit and no walks over four innings. 
  • The win broke the Wolfpack’s six-game winning streak and it was their first loss on the road this season as they entered the series with an 8-0 road record.

Top-25, Here Come The Irish

  • Following seven ACC series wins, with four coming on the road, people are starting to take note of the Irish.
  • The Irish continued to rise in the polls and are now ranked in the Top-10 in half of the six polls.
  • The Irish are ranked in the Top-10 in Baseball America (#6), Perfect Game (#9) and D1Baseball (#10). The Irish are ranked #12 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, #12 in the NCBWA poll and #14 in the Collegiate Newspaper Poll.
  • No. 6 is the highest ranking for the Irish since the final week of the 2004 regular season when they were also ranked sixth.
  • A week after cracking two of the polls after the series win against Clemson, the Irish appeared in all six polls after the road sweep of Virginia.
  • In the final week of the 2020 regular season, Notre Dame made their first appearance in the Top-25 when they were selected No. 24 by Collegiate Baseball News.
  • It was the first time the Irish were ranked in the Top-25 since the 2015 season, the last time Notre Dame made an NCAA Regional.

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