Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Weekend Preview: Hatter Classic

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — For the first time in 2022, the fourth-ranked Notre Dame baseball team will take the diamond to kick off the 2022 season. The Irish are heading south to DeLand, Florida for the Hatter Classic with Manhattan, host Stetson and Delaware. The first game of the season will be Friday night at 7 p.m. against Manhattan at Melching Field. Head coach Link Jarrett enters his third season at the helm and looks to keep the momentum going from the successful 2021 season.

Hatter Classic
Teams:No. 4 Notre Dame (0-0)
Manhattan (0-0)
Stetson (0-0)
Delaware (0-0)
Probable Starters:LHP Aidan Tyrell (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Tyler Fagler (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
LHP John Michael Bertrand (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP Jonathan Gonzalez (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
RHP Austin Temple (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Joey Silan (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
When:Friday, February 18 | 7 p.m. ET
Saturday, February 19 | 4 p.m. ET
Sunday, February 20 | 9 a.m. ET
Where:DeLand, FL | Melching Field
Watch:Hatter Vision Youtube (Friday)
ESPN+ (Saturday)
Hatter Vision Youtube (Sunday)
Live Scoring:Hatter Classic Live Scoring
Social:@NDBaseball
@NotreDameBaseball

Irish Open Campaign at Hatter Classic

  • The No. 4 Notre Dame baseball team begins the 2022 season in DeLand, Florida for the Hatter Classic against Manhattan, Stetson and Delaware. The Irish will face each team once over the opening weekend.
  • Manhattan went 12-24 in the 2021 season, including 12-22 in conference play last year.
  • This will be just the third time the Irish have faced Manhattan in program history. They played two games in Rock Hill, South Carolina in March of 2011 and the two teams split the contests (2-5, 5-4).
  • The Jaspers are the first opponent the Irish have faced from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference since 2019 when the Irish faced Canisius at Frank Eck Stadium. Notre Dame swept the Griffs in the three-game series that included a walk-off walk and walk-off balk in two of the three wins.
  • Stetson is fresh off a 26-23 campaign from 2021 and went 10-8 in Atlantic Sun play. It will be the first meeting between the two schools.
  • The last time the Irish faced a team from ASUN was Austin Peay in May of 2017. The Irish took two of three from the Governors at Frank Eck Stadium.
  • Delaware was 12-22 last season and 8-16 in CAA play. It will be the sixth meeting between the two schools but the first time since 1992.
  • The Irish are 3-2 all time against Delaware and won the last meeting, 12-6, on May 24, 1992 in Miami.

Lethal Lineup is Back for 2022

  • Coming off the most successful season in almost 20 years, a strong portion of the 2021 starting lineup returns for the Irish.
  • Notre Dame returns eight of the nine every day starters from the 2021 lineup.
  • That group accounted for 358 games started (84.6%) out of 423 from 2021.
  • Notre Dame also returns four players that started all 47 games last season (Spencer Myers, Zack Prajzner, Jack Brannigan and Carter Putz).
  • The production returning from that group includes 85.5% of  runs scored (284/332), 86.9% of hits (392/451), 75.3% of runs batted in (232/308) and 65.2% of home runs hit (43/66) from the 2021 season.
  • Each of the eight returning starters hit at least four home runs in 2021 and five of those eight had six or more.
  • Ryan Cole leads the returners with a career-high nine home runs from 2021. Heading into last season, Cole had not hit a home run in his career.
  • Spencer Myers and Carter Putz both had a team-high 57 hits in 2021. 
  • Myers is the leading stolen base returner after swiping 15 bags last season. He is currently No. 8 in program history with 56 steals for his career heading into the season.

Weekend Rotation Returns

  • Much like the lineup, the Irish return all three starting pitchers from the weekend rotation in 2021.
  • LHP John Michael Bertrand, LHP Aidan Tyrell and LHP Will Mercer return 209.1 innings pitched from last season, 17 combined wins and four saves. 
  • Bertrand led the way for the Irish in 2021 with a team-high 92.2 innings pitched, eight wins and 68 strikeouts to just 22 walks.
  • He was named First Team All-ACC following the regular season after he threw the most innings by an Irish pitcher since 2013.
  • Bertrand threw a complete-game shutout in the postseason opener against Central Michigan, the first Irish complete game shutout in the postseason since the 2000 season. Bertrand had three complete games during the 2021 season.
  • Heading into 2022, Bertrand was named a Third Team Preseason All-American by Perfect Game and the NCBWA.
  • Tyrell tossed the best game of his Irish career in his final start of 2021. He threw 7.1 innings and allowed just one run to keep Notre Dame’s season alive in the 9-1 win over Mississippi State in the Starkville Super Regional. He tied a career high with six strikeouts in the win.
  • The week prior in the South Bend Regional, he set a career high with 8.0 innings pitched in the 14-2 regional-clinching win over Central Michigan.
  • Mercer also had one his best starts of his Irish career in the postseason. He set a career high 7.0 innings pitched in the 26-3 win over UConn in the South Bend Regional.

Transfer Arms Add Wealth of Experience

  • Similar to the 2021 season, the Irish bring in a strong stable of graduate transfer pitchers with a wealth of Division I experience.
  • The trio of RHP Austin Temple, LHP Matt Lazzaro and RHP Ryan McLinskey combined have throw 412.0 innings pitched in their careers.
  • Temple comes to the Irish after beginning his career at Jacksonville. He has thrown 132.2 career innings with an 8.7 record with 124 strikeouts to 76 walks in four years with the Dolphins. He was named to the 2021 Preseason ASUN team before missing much of the season due to injury.
  • Lazzaro comes to the Irish after playing at Houston last season and beginning his collegiate career with John Michael Bertrand at Furman. He has totaled 151.0 innings pitched in his career, four wins and a save to go with 114 strikeouts and 50 walks.
  • McLinskey heads to South Bend after beginning his collegiate career at Seton Hall. He has thrown 128.1 career innings with a 7-5 record and one save with 142 strikeouts and 57 walks. He was the Pirates Friday starter last season and ranked sixth in the BIG EAST with a 2.81 ERA.

Among the Nation’s Best

  • Heading into the 2022 season, the Irish have been one of the most consistent teams over the past two seasons.
  • Since the start of the 2020 season, Notre Dame is 45-15, good for a .750 winning percentage.
  • That ranks fourth overall in the NCAA, trailing only Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas. 
School Record Since 2020 Win Pct.
Arkansas 60-18 .772
Texas 64-20 .762
Tennessee 65-20 .765
NOTRE DAME 45-15 .750
Fairfield 41-14 .745
Mississippi State 62-22 .738
San Diego 45-16 .738
Old Dominion 56-20 .737
Texas Tech 55-20 .733
East Carolina 57-21 .731
  • Among ACC teams, the Irish have the best winning percentage over the past two seasons.
School Record Since 2020 Win Pct.
NOTRE DAME 45-15 .750
NC State 51-22 .699
Miami 45-25 .643
Duke 45-26 .634
Virginia 50-31 .617

Road Warriors

  • The Irish have been known to be a tough out on the road in the first two seasons under Link Jarrett. 
  • Notre Dame is a combined 25-7 on the road over the past two seasons and have won every regular season road series since Jarrett came to South Bend in 2020.
  • In Jarrett’s tenure, the Irish have won all seven ACC road series, while also winning non-conference road series against UAB and Presbyterian in the 2020 season. 
  • The Irish have won seven-straight ACC road series over the past two seasons to set a program record since joining the ACC in 2014. 
  • It is just the second time in program history that Notre Dame has won seven-straight conference road series.
  • The streak ties the mark set by the 199-93 squads that won seven-consecutive conference series while in the Mid-Western Collegiate Conference.

Season to Remember in 2021

  • In Link Jarrett’s first full season at the helm of the Irish, they had their most successful season in almost 20 years.
  • The Irish scored 19 runs in the series-sweeping win over North Carolina on May 2. It was the most runs they have scored in a conference game since joining the league in 2014.
  • Notre Dame claimed its first ACC regular season title since joining the league and first regular season title since 2006.
  • The Irish won 25 conference games in 2021 to tie the program record for most conference wins in a single season with the 1990 squad that won 25 games in the Mid-Western Collegiate Conference.
  • They hosted a regional at Frank Eck Stadium for the first time since 2004 and won a regional for the first time since 2002.
  • In the South Bend Regional, the Irish set a postseason record with 26 runs scored against UConn. It beat the previous postseason record of 25 runs against South Alabama in 2002.
  • Niko Kavadas broke the program record for most home runs in a single season during the regional. He finished the season with 22 home runs, surpassing Frank Jacobs record of 20 from 1991.
  • The Irish finished the season with a 34-13 (.723) record, their highest winning percentage in a single season since 2004 (.810). 

2021 MLB Draft

  • Two of the main cogs of the successful 2021 Irish baseball team heard their names called in the 2021 MLB Draft. 
  • RHP Tanner Kohlhepp was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the fifth round of the draft with the 135th overall pick.
  • Kohlhepp was the highest drafted pitcher for the Irish since Peter Solomon was selected in the fourth round by the Astros in 2017.
  • Kohlhepp led the Irish in appearances with 23 while finishing second in wins (7), innings pitched (61.1) and strikeouts (65).
  • He earned third team All-American honors from D1Baseball following the season, the second year in a row an Irish pitcher earned All-American honors
  • Slugger Niko Kavadas was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 11th round with the 316th overall pick.
  • Kavadas set the program record for most home runs in a single season with 22 in 2021. 
  • Kavadas finished the year with a .767 slugging percentage, which ranks second all-time in program history for a single season. Niko is also tied for second all-time for home runs in a career with 46.
  • After the season, Kavadas was named a First Team All-American by D1Baseball, Baseball America and Perfect Game. 
  • He was the first Irish player to earn multiple first team honors in the same season since Steve Stanley in 2002.

—ND—