Weekend Preview: Cambria College Classic

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The third-ranked Notre Dame baseball team (5-1) is back on the road to kick off its two-week spring break trip. The Irish begin the trip in Minneapolis at the Cambria College Classic and they will face off with three Big 10 teams over the weekend. Notre Dame will square off with Illinois (2-4), Michigan State (3-4) and hosts, Minnesota (3-7), at U.S. Bank Stadium. The first game on Friday will be against Illinois and it is set for a 4 p.m. ET first pitch. All three games on the weekend will be broadcast on Big 10 Network Plus.

Irish Head North for Cambria College Classic

• Notre Dame travels north to kick off the spring break road trip as it heads to Minneapolis for the Cambria College Classic. 
• The Irish will face off with three Big 10 teams in Illinois, Michigan State and Minnesota at US Bank Arena, home to the Minnesota Vikings.
• Notre Dame will face Illinois to start the weekend for the 64th time in program history and the first time since the 2015 Champaign Regional.
• Illinois leads the all-time series 38-25 and they defeated the Irish 3-0 in the most recent matchup in 2015.
• This season, the Illini are 2-4 on the year and are coming off a 1-2 in Conway, SC after splitting with Middle Tennessee State and dropping a game to Coastal Carolina.
• Next up will be the first of three matchups this season between the Irish and the Spartans.
• Michigan State leads the all-time series 80-57 as the teams will meet for the 138th time on Saturday.
• The Spartans are 3-4 this season and are coming off a weekend where they got swept on the road by Abilene Christian.
• The Irish will close the weekend with the host Minnesota and the two teams will meet for the 43rd time in program history. 
• The Irish lead the series 23-19 between the two teams and they will meet for the first time since 2006.
• Minnesota is 3-7 on the season and went 2-3 over the past week. They defeated Northeastern but lost twice to Indiana State in Fort Myers, Fla. over the weekend while defeating St. Thomas but falling to South Dakota State in the midweek matchups.

Irish Shutout Monmouth to Sweep Doubleheader

• In their final game in Greenville, the Irish pitching staff put together their best performance of the season in the 9-0 win to sweep the double header.
• Graduate student Austin Temple got the Irish started with five scoreless innings and just two hits allowed. He struck out five after setting a career high last week against Delaware.
• Up next was fellow graduate student Ryan McLinskey, who pitched 1.2 innings with one hit allowed and four of his five outs came via the strikeout. 
• Senior Alex Rao came in next for his first appearance of the season and he did not allow a walk or a hit in 1.1 innings pitched, striking out three of the four batters he faced.
• Moving over from third base, junior Jack Brannigan closed the deal in the ninth. He struck out the side to end the game and give the staff 15 total strikeouts, the highest in a game this season.
• At the plate, Zack Prajzner and Danny Neri led the way with 3 RBI each. Neri set a career high with the three runs batted in.
• The 4-5-6 spots in the lineup of Carter Putz, Brannigan and TJ Williams each had a team-high two runs scored.

Bats Stay Hot in 16-2 Victory over Monmouth

• The Irish continued the torrid stretch at the plate in the 16-2 win over Monmouth in the first game of the double header. 
• Both teams were scoreless through the first three innings until the Irish scored in the fourth and then scored in each of the last four innings they were at bat.
• A day after going 3-for-3 against Marist, Cole one-upped himself and went 4-for-4 against the Hawks with four RBI and three runs.
• Cole broke the game open in the sixth with his first career grand slam to extend the Irish lead to 8-0 at the time. 
• He was the first Notre Dame player to hit a grand slam since Alex Brait last season in the opening series of the season against Wake Forest.
• Carter Putz also went yard in the game, his first of the season, in the fifth inning. 
• On the mound, John Michael Bertrand was superb for the second-straight start.
• He tossed seven innings and allowed just one earned run and one walk while striking out a career-high 11 batters.
• It was the most strikeouts in a single game by an Irish player since Cameron Junker tallied 11 against Canisius in 2019.
• Following Bertrand on the mound was freshman Radek Birkholz, who made his collegiate debut against the Hawks.
• He pitched the final two innings without allowing a hit and struck out three batters to close the game.

Offense Explodes in 20-2 Win over Marist

• The Irish offense did not slow down in the second week of the season as they defeated Marist 20-2 on February 25 in Greenville. 
• The Irish put up eight runs in the opening frame and never looked back as they scored the most runs in a regular season game since 2008.
• A number of Irish hitters got opportunities at the plate as 15 different players recorded a hit in the win.
• It was the most batters to get a hit in a game for the Irish over the last 16 seasons. The previous record was 13 against Georgetown in 2008.
• Ryan Cole led the Irish at the plate after going 3-for-3 with two runs and an RBI. DM Jefferson had a team-high 3 RBI in the win.
• On the mound, Aidan Tyrell improved to 2-0 after seven scoreless innings allowing just three hits, one walk and struck out five. 
• Tyrell has not allowed a run in his 11.0 innings this season.
• Sammy Cooper made his collegiate debut out of the bullpen, tossing the final two innings, to close out the win.

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 50-16, good for a .758 winning percentage over that period.
• That ranks fourth overall in the NCAA, trailing only Tennessee, Texas and Arkansas.

• Among ACC teams, the Irish have the best winning percentage over the past three seasons.

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