NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The seventh-ranked Notre Dame baseball team is heading toward the tail end of its seven-game homestand as it prepares for another ACC series this weekend. Coming into town this weekend, the Irish will welcome the NC State Wolfpack for a three-game series at Frank Eck Stadium. The first game of the series will be Friday night at 5 p.m. ET and will be aired on the ACC Network Extra.
Home Sweet Home
- 10 of their next 14 games will come from Frank Eck Stadium and the Irish own a 7-3 record at home so far this season.
- The Irish and Wolfpack will meet for the 21st time in program history and it will be the fourth series held all-time at Notre Dame.
- NC State leads the all-time series 12-8 but the Irish hold a 6-3 edge in games played at Notre Dame. The Irish have won all three series that have been played at Notre Dame.
- NC State enters the weekend series with a 15-11 overall record and are 8-10 in conference play.
- The Wolfpack are hot heading into the series as they have won 10 of their last 12 games and have swept two of their previous three series.
- It will be a family affair this weekend as head coach Link Jarrett’s son is a senior infielder on the Wolfpack squad.
- The Irish continue to be the best fielding team in the country heading into the weekend as they are No. 1 in the NCAA with a 0.988 fielding percentage.
- NC State comes into the weekend with the second best fielding percentage in the country with 13 errors in 25 games which is good for a .986 mark.
Kavadas Named to Golden Spikes Midseason Watch List
- Senior Niko Kavadas was named to the Golden Spikes Midseason Award Watch List heading into the weekend series against NC State.
- He is the first Irish player to make the midseason list since 2013 when Eric Jagielo and Dan Slania both earned the accolade.
- It is not the only midseason honor Kavadas has earned from his strong start to the season as he was named a Midseason All-American by D1Baseball and a second team Midseason All-American by Perfect Game.
- Kavadas is ranked No. 2 in the nation in home runs per game (0.55), No. 3 in slugging percentage (.903) and No. 5 in home runs (12).
- Kavadas leads the ACC in home runs per game and slugging percentage along with runs batted in per game (1.45).
- Kavadas currently has 36 career home runs which is sixth best in program history and he is one shy of being in a tie for third all-time.
- Kavadas is also just two home runs shy of earning 10th place in program history for the most home runs in a single season.
Early Offense Propels No. 7 Irish to Midweek Win Over Central Michigan
- Coming off a loss in the series finale to No. 14 Georgia Tech, the Irish wanted to get off to a quick start against Central Michigan and they did just that.
- Notre Dame scored in each of the first four innings to take a quick 8-2 lead over the Chippewas.
- It is the 15th game the Irish have struck first and with the win, they improved to 13-2 in those games.
- Righty Alex Rao paced the Irish bullpen in the middle innings, pitching 4.1 innings without allowing a hit and striking out five.
- Carter Putz had a career day at the plate, setting a career high with 4 hits after going 4-for-4 with two runs and two RBI.
- Kyle Hess also had a great game at the plate, finishing with two doubles and two RBI.
Irish Blank No. 14 Georgia Tech to Win Series
- On Saturday, the Irish pitching staff tossed one of their best outings of the season against a top-ACC offensive squad.
- The Yellow Jackets came into the weekend with an ACC-leading .298 batting average and the duo of Aidan Tyrell and Alex Rao shut them down in game two.
- Tyrell tossed a career-high six innings and only allowed two hits and only five people to reach base.
- In the seventh, Alex Rao came on and shut the door for his second save of the season.
- Rao pitched the final three innings and allowed just three hits while picking up a career-high eight strikeouts.
- Rao is one of seven different players to record a save for the Irish this season. He joins Joe Sheridan as the only players to record multiple saves so far.
- The Irish scored in four of the eight innings to pick up a 7-0 win to clinch the series.
- It was the first time Georgia Tech has been shut out in an ACC game since May 25, 2018.
- With the series win the Irish won their six conference series, the most by any ACC team so far this season. The Irish are still the only ACC team to not drop a conference series this season.
- The Irish have begun ACC play with a 15-6 record through seven series, the best start to conference play since joining the ACC. It is the best start to a conference slate for the Irish since 2008 when they opened BIG EAST play with an identical 15-6 record.
Irish Rally To Beat No. 14 Yellow Jackets in Series Opener
- Heading into the weekend with their third ranked series in a row, the Irish continued their hot play against No. 14 Georgia Tech
- In the series opener, the Irish fell behind early and faced a 7-0 hole going into the bottom of the fourth and trailed 7-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh.
- The comeback came alive in the seventh as the Irish put up four runs after home runs from Jack Brannigan and Niko Kavadas to trim the lead to one.
- Georgia Tech added two runs in the top of the eighth but the Irish had another big inning in the bottom half of the inning.
- Notre Dame put up another four runs to take their first lead of the game. Spencer Myers tied the game with a Two-RBI single to right and subsequent error. Then with the bases loaded, Carter Putz worked a walk to bring home Myers as the game winning run in the 10-9 win.
- It was the first time the Irish had come back from a seven run or more deficit to win since May 22, 2009 against St. John’s. The Irish trailed 9-0 in the fourth and won the game 11-10 in the BIG EAST Tournament.
Top-25, Here Come The Irish
- Following six ACC series wins, with four coming on the road and a sweep to begin the 2021 season, people are starting to take note of the Irish.
- The Irish continued to rise in all six polls, including breaking into the Top-10 in a couple.
- The Irish broke into the Top-10 in Baseball America (#7) and D1Baseball (#10). They rank #11 in Perfect Game and NCBWA, #12 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and #16 in Collegiate Baseball.
- It is the first time the Irish have been ranked in the Top-10 since April 24, 2006.
- It is the highest ranking for the Irish since May of 2005 when they were also ranked No. 7 heading into the BIG EAST Tournament.
- 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.
FRANK ECK STADIUM ATTENDANCE POLICY
2021 Baseball Media Credentials Info
The University of Notre Dame, in accordance with campus health and safety protocols and with the guidance of local health officials, will limit attendance for sports competing this spring to guests of competing Notre Dame student-athletes and coaches as well as current Notre Dame, Holy Cross and St. Mary’s College students. Students will be expected to show a current I.D. and physically distanced seating will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis. Additional student attendance policies can be found here.
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