Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Strong Start Gives the Irish the Win over UAB

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish take home their fourth win of the season, defeating the University of Alabama at Birmingham in game one at Young Memorial Field in downtown Birmingham. The Irish won 7-2 against the Blazers and improved to 4-3 on the season. 

Jackson Dennies (0-1) started on the mound for the Irish and pitched three innings, allowing just one hit and no runs. Jack Findlay (2-0) took home his second win of the season after four innings and gave up three hits and one run to the Blazers. He was relieved by Matt Bedford (1-0), who was on the bump for two innings and allowed two hits and one run. 

How it happened 

Notre Dame put runs on the board early, scoring two in the first, one in the second, and two in the third. 

TJ Williams reached first on a UAB error to start the first inning, followed by a stolen base at second. Williams advanced to third on a single from Zack Prajzner and scored on an RBI double from Brooks Coetzee. With the Irish leading 1-0, Carter Putz would hit a sac fly to left field to score Coetzee. Jack Penney followed with his first triple of the season, but was left on base. 

The Irish took the 2-0 advantage heading into the bottom of the first and held the Blazers scoreless in the first three innings. The Irish extended their lead to 3-0 after the second inning thanks to an RBI single from Estevan Moreno that sent home Danny Neri.

At the top of the third, Prajzner reached first after being hit by the pitch, but was scored on an RBI triple to center field by Coetzee. Putz grounded out to second base, but recorded his second RBI on the day after scoring Coetzee to give the Irish the 5-0 advantage after three. The Blazers would finally put a run on the board in bottom of the fourth, but the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings would remain scoreless for the Irish. 

To start the eighth, Penney reached first via a walk and Nick DeMarco recorded his first hit of the season as he singled to left field. Neri sent both Penney and DeMarco home on an RBI single to extend the Irish lead to 7-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth. The Blazers would score one more run to close out the eighth and after a scoreless ninth for both Notre Dame and UAB, the Irish would take home game one 7-2. 

Up Next

The Irish are back in action tomorrow for game two of the three-game series at UAB. First pitch is set for 3:00 PM ET (2:00 PM CT) at Young Memorial Field.