NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The sixth-ranked Notre Dame baseball team is back in action this weekend as they host another ACC series at Frank Eck Stadium. The Irish (21-8, 18-8 ACC) are set to square off with North Carolina (20-18, 14-13 ACC) for a three-game set starting Friday night. The series opener is set for a 5 p.m. ET start and will be aired on the ACC Network Extra.
Home Sweet Home
- The Irish are back at home for their final home swing of the regular season over the next two weeks.
- Notre Dame is set to play six of the next seven home games from Frank Eck Stadium to close out the home slate.
- The Irish are set to square off with North Carolina for a weekend series starting on Friday night.
- The Tar Heels are the lone ACC opponent the Irish faced before the 2020 season was shut down due to COVID-19.
- Notre Dame holds a 9-6 advantage all-time against the Tar Heels and are 4-2 in games held in South Bend.
- The Irish are coming off a series sweep against the Tar Heels back in 2020 at Boshamer Stadium and have won the last four games against North Carolina.
- The last game between the two teams at Frank Eck Stadium ended in a walk-off when Zack Prajzner hit a single to left to score Daniel Jung in the 4-3 win on April 13, 2019.
- The Tar Heels enter the weekend with a 20-18 overall record and are 14-13 in ACC play.
- Last weekend, the Tar Heels won two out of three to clinch a home series over Miami before falling to No. 15 Charlotte in a midweek matchup.
Irish Outlast Valpo in Midweek Matchup
- Notre Dame and Valpo met for the second time out of three scheduled meetings this season Tuesday at Frank Eck Stadium.
- In and back and forth game, the Irish ended on top 8-7 after going ahead in the seventh inning.
- The Irish scored three runs in the opening two innings to take an early lead before it went back and forth in the middle innings.
- The lead changed four times between the fifth and seventh inning before the Irish went ahead for good.
- Kyle Hess reached via an error in the seventh and Jack Brannigan came home to score the go-ahead run.
- Liam Simon finished off the final two innings for his fifth win of the season, tying the team high with Tanner Kohlhepp.
- Simon pitched 2.1 innings and allowed just two hits with no runs and no walks.
- With the win, the Irish improve to 3-0 in non-conference games this season and have won their last seven non-conference games dating back to last season.
- The Irish have also won their last seven non-conference games at home dating back to the 2019 season.
Rally Irish Overcome Nine-Run Deficit to Defeat Boston College
- The Irish had a comeback you had to see to believe in the rubber match of their road series with Boston College.
- Notre Dame trailed 9-0 heading into the seventh as the comeback began with Zack Prajzner scoring the first run on a ground out from Spencer Myers.
- In the eighth Niko Kavadas led the inning off with a solo home run, his 15th of the season.
- Prajzner got in the long ball game with a three-run blast to pull the Irish within 9-5.
- Kyle Hess made it 9-6 when he scored after Myers legged out an infield single.
- Myers and Cole both came home on bases loaded walks to trim the deficit to 9-8.
- Then the Irish took their first lead of the game after David LaManna beat the throw to first which scored Kavadas and Carter Putz to put the Irish up 10-9.
- They weren’t done in the inning as Jack Brannigan recorded his second career steal of home to double the Irish lead to 11-9.
- Then with the bases loaded, Kyle Hess hit a ground rule double to right that scored Prajzner and LaManna to balloon the Irish lead to 13-9.
- Notre Dame scored 12 runs in the eighth inning with eight coming with two outs.
- The eight runs with two outs are the most scored in that scenario by the Irish since the second inning on March 20, 2008 when the Irish also scored eight runs with two outs in a 25-1 win over Georgetown.
- Liam Simon and Aidan Tyrell combined for the final two innings to close the door on another series victory for the Irish.
- Notre Dame scored 13 unanswered runs in the win, the most since March 24, 2016 when the Irish scored 15 unanswered runs in a 16-4 road win over Virginia Tech.
- The 12 runs in the eighth inning was the most in an inning since the Irish scored 11 in the fourth inning on February 19, 2011 in a 19-2 win over Purdue.
- With the series win the Irish have won eight ACC series this season, the most conference series wins since they won eight in the BIG EAST back in 2001.
- The Irish scored in double figures for the seventh time this season and four of those instances have come in rubber match victories.
- Notre Dame improved to 5-0 this season in rubber matches.
Pitching, Power Push Irish Past Boston College
- The Irish bounced back after dropping the series opener to BC and won the first game of the doubleheader 5-2.
- The Irish jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning after Spencer Myers scored on a sacrifice fly and Ryan Cole came home after Niko Kavadas forced the throw to second on a delayed steal.
- Notre Dame added to its lead in the second when Zack Prajzner scored on Myers’ single to the pitcher.
- John Michael Bertrand put together another stellar outing on the mound, working 6.1 innings and allowed just four hits and two runs to the Eagles.
- After BC trimmed the Irish lead to one, Tanner Kohlhepp came on to finish the outing off for the Irish.
- Niko Kavadas gave Kohlhepp some breathing room in the ninth with a two run home run for his 14th of the season.
- Kohlhepp retired all eight BC batters he faced to pick up his second save and even the series for the Irish.
- With the win, Notre Dame improves to 7-0 this season coming off a loss.
Top-25, Here Come The Irish
- Following eight ACC series wins, with five coming on the road and a sweep, everyone is taking note of the Irish.
- The Irish are holding steady in the polls and continue to be ranked in the Top-10 in four of the polls.
- The Irish are ranked in the Top-10 in Baseball America (#6), Perfect Game (#6), D1Baseball (#8) and USA Today Coaches Poll (#9).
- 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.
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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