SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The fourth-ranked Notre Dame baseball team is back in action as they head out on the road for another ACC series. The Irish are heading back to North Carolina as they are set to take on Duke this week for a three-game series that starts on Thursday. The series opener has been moved up at a 4 p.m. ET start from Jack Coombs Field on campus. The Irish are fresh off of their 14-5 midweek win over Michigan and have a nine-game winning streak heading into the series.
| Weekend Preview | |
|---|---|
| Matchup: | No. 4 Notre Dame (21-5, 8-4 ACC) vs. Duke (13-20, 3-12 ACC) |
| When: | Thursday, April 14 | 4 p.m. ET Friday, April 15 | 6 p.m. ET Saturday, April 16 | 1 p.m. ET |
| Probable Starters: | LHP Will Mercer (0-0, 2.00 ERA) vs. LHP Jonathan Santucci (0-1, 6.23 ERA) LHP John Michael Bertrand (5-0, 1.53 ERA) vs. RHP Marcus Johnson 1-6, 4.50 ERA) RHP Austin Temple (3-0, 2.76 ERA) vs. TBA |
| Where: | Durham, NC | Jack Coombs Field |
| Watch: | ACCNX (Thursday) ACCNX (Friday) ACCNX (Saturday) |
| Live Scoring: | StatBroadcast |
| Notes: | Notre Dame |
| Social: | @NDBaseball @NotreDameBaseball |
| BY THE NUMBERS | |
|---|---|
| .762 | The Irish own a 32-10 record (.762) on the road under head coach Link Jarrett. |
| .767 | The Irish are 66-20 (.767) since the start of the 2020 season. That winning percentage ranks third in the NCAA over the past three seasons, trailing only Tennessee and Arkansas. |
| .808 | The Irish are 21-5 (.808) to start the 2022 season. It is the best start to a season since 2004, when the Irish began the year 23-3 (.885). |
| .988 | Notre Dame is second in the NCAA in fielding percentage with a .988 mark this season. The Irish have committed 12 errors in 709 putout opportunities this season. |
| 1 | The Irish swept #5 Florida State on the road from April 1-3 (2-0 (12), 5-4, 9-7). It was the first time the Irish have swept a Top-5 team on the road in program history. |
| 1.16 | Notre Dame is sixth in the NCAA and leads the ACC with a 1.16 WHIP this season. They have surrendered 172 hits and 103 walks in 236.1 innings pitched. |
| 3.08 | The Irish rank sixth nationally and lead the ACC in team ERA with 3.08. They have given up 81 earned runs in 236.1 innings this season. |
| 6.55 | The Irish are third in the NCAA and lead the ACC with 6.55 hits allowed per nine innings. They have given up 172 hits in 236.1 innings pitched this season. |
| 8 | The Irish scored eight unanswered runs in the 8-4 comeback win over #17 NC State on March 11. It was the most unanswered runs in a game since Game 2 of the Super Regional when the Irish scored nine unanswered runs to beat #7 Mississippi State. |
| 11.1 | The Irish rank eighth in the NCAA and third in the ACC in strikeouts per nine innings with 11.1. The Irish pitching staff has struck out 292 batters in 236.1 innings this season. |
| 12.0 | John Michael Bertrand (7.2 IP), Ryan McLinskey (1.2 IP), Aidan Tyrell (1.0) and Alex Rao (1.2 IP) combined to shutout #5 Florida State in 12.0 innings in the 2-0 Irish win on April 1. It was the first time in program history that the Seminoles had been shutout in an extra inning game. |
| 12 | John Michael Bertrand set a career high with 12 strikeouts against #5 Florida State on April 1. It was the most strikeouts in a game for an Irish pitcher since Cameron Brown struck out 12 against Florida State on March 23, 2019. |
| 16 | Notre Dame is 16-2-1 all-time in regular-season series under Jarrett. The Irish are 9-1 in ACC series on the road and are 14-2-1 in ACC series over the past two-plus seasons. |
| 16 | The Irish allowed three runs or less for the 16th time this season in the 9-3 win over Clemson to sweep the series on April 10. They are 16-0 this season and 42-2 overall under Jarrett in games they allow three runs or less. |
| 18 | The Irish struck out 18 batters in the 2-0 win over #5 Florida State on April 1. It was the most strikeouts in a game for the Irish pitching staff since May 16, 2008, when they struck out 18 against South Florida. |
| 58 | Outfielder Spencer Myers has 58 steals in his Irish career and ranks eighth all-time in program history for most career steals. He trails AJ Pollock by two for seventh place in program history. |
Irish Head South to Battle Duke
- Notre Dame hits the road for its second to last ACC road series of the regular season as they take on Duke this weekend in Durham.
- Duke leads the all-time series between the two teams 14-8 and have a 9-4 advantage in games played in Durham.
- Last season, the Irish took two-of-three games from Duke at Frank Eck Stadium in the first home series of the season.
- The home opener went into the 13th inning with the score tied at 4-4 before Ryan Cole hit his first career home run to give the Irish a 6-4 victory.
- In the second game of the series, Cole hit an inside-the-park home run to help the Irish clinch the series with a 6-2 win.
- John Michael Bertrand tossed his first complete game with the Irish in the series-clinching win. He struck out six and only allowed two runs.
- Niko Kavadas had a strong series at the plate against the Blue Devils, as he hit two home runs and had a team-high 6 RBI in the series.
- Duke heads into the series with a 13-20 overall record and are 3-12 in ACC play. They are coming off an 0-4 week after getting swept in a road series against Wake Forest and lost the midweek matchup against Campbell at home.
- The Irish are in the middle of their second long winning streak of the season. They have won their last nine games heading into the series and are coming off a home series sweep of Clemson and a midweek win over Michigan.
- Notre Dame continues to hold strong in a number of national categories this season. They currently rank in the Top-10 in fielding percentage (2nd – .988), hits allowed per nine innings (3rd – 6.55), WHIP (6th – 1.16), ERA (6th – 3.08) and strikeouts per nine innings (7th – 11.1).
Myers Slam Carries Irish over Michigan, 14-5
- Notre Dame finished the five-game homestand in style with a 14-5 win over rival Michigan on April 10.
- The win extended the Irish win streak to nine games and they improved to 5-0 in midweek games this season.
- The Irish broke out for five runs in the second and did not look back to improve to 7-1 at home this year.
- Spencer Myers hit his first career grand slam in the second to give the Irish an early lead they would not relinquish. He finished with a career high four RBI to lead the team.
- Zack Prajzner and Brooks Coetzee III both added three RBI each at the plate in the win.
- The offensive outburst was the ninth time this season the Irish have scored 10 or more runs in a game.
- On the mound, sophomore Jackson Dennies picked up his first career win after 1.2 innings of relief.
Among the Nation’s Best
- Since the start of the 2020 season, the Irish have been one of the most consistent teams over the past three seasons.
- Notre Dame is 66-20, good for a .767 winning percentage over that period.
- That ranks third overall in the NCAA, trailing only Tennessee and Arkansas.
| School | Record Since 2020 | Win Pct. |
| Tennessee | 96-22 | .814 |
| Arkansas | 86-25 | .775 |
| NOTRE DAME | 66-20 | .767 |
| Texas | 89-30 | .748 |
| Texas Tech | 82-29 | .739 |
| Old Dominion | 79-28 | .738 |
| Vanderbilt | 85-32 | .727 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 75-29 | .721 |
| San Diego | 65-27 | .707 |
| Arizona | 78-33 | .703 |
- Among ACC teams, the Irish have the best winning percentage over the past three seasons.
| School | Record Since 2020 | Win Pct. |
| NOTRE DAME | 66-20 | .767 |
| Miami | 72-31 | .699 |
| NC State | 71-33 | .683 |
| Virginia | 76-38 | .667 |
| Louisville | 65-34 | .657 |
ACC Dominance
- Since Link Jarrett arrived in South Bend, the Irish have been the class of the conference over the past two-plus seasons.
- Notre Dame is 36-14 (.720) in ACC games since 2020, the best record of any school in the conference.
- The Irish are 14-2-1 in ACC series over that time and seven of the 14 series wins have been sweeps.
- The seven ACC sweeps matches the total the Irish accumulated in the six years prior to Jarrett since they joined the conference in 2014.
- In 2022, the Irish are 3-1 in ACC series with all three series wins coming via a sweep. They swept the Wolfpack in an abbreviated two-game series on the road, swept the fifth-ranked Seminoles in Tallahassee and are coming off a home sweep over Clemson.
| School | ACC Record Since 2020 | Win Pct. |
| NOTRE DAME | 36-14 | .720 |
| Miami | 36-17 | .679 |
| Louisville | 27-20 | .574 |
| Georgia Tech | 30-24 | .556 |
| NC State | 27-23 | .540 |
Road Warriors
- The Irish have been known to be a tough out on the road under head coach Link Jarrett.
- Notre Dame is a combined 32-10 on the road and have won 11 of 12 regular season road series since Jarrett came to South Bend in 2020.
- The Irish swept #5 Florida State on the road this season for their first road series sweep over a Top-5 team in program history.
- The Irish also earned their first series win in Tallahassee in program history with the sweep.
- In Jarrett’s tenure, the Irish have won nine ACC road series, while also winning non-conference road series against UAB and Presbyterian in the 2020 season.
- Earlier this season, the Irish won their eighth-straight ACC road series to set a program record for most consecutive conference road series wins.
- It broke the previous record set by the 1991-93 squads that won seven-consecutive conference series while in the Mid-Western Collegiate Conference.
—ND—