The Notre Dame baseball team will play its last non-conference weekend series before May this weekend, heading south for three games hosted by the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles. In Cookeville, the Irish will take on Alabama A&M, University of Illinois-Chicago and Tennessee Tech.
Friday
Notre Dame opens the weekend with a Friday matchup against Alabama A&M. This is the first time the two programs have met on the field. Head coach Louis Whitlow’s squad has a 2-5 overall record, but are coming off a successful 2-1 weekend during which they defeated New Orleans and the University of Louisiana at Monroe. The Bulldogs will host Illinois State on Wednesday before heading north to Cookeville.
At the plate, the Bulldogs lineup is anchored by junior outfielder Tarris Murray and graduate outfielder Tervell Johnson, a power threat who leads the team with seven RBI and two homers. Junior Edyn Barber is likely to start on the mound against the Irish. The 6-4 righty out of Cranbrook, British Columbia sports a lively fastball and a put-away slider. He’s struck out 11 through six innings this year. Barber will duel Irish ace Jack Radel, who is coming off six perfect innings in Jacksonville last Friday. Radel will look to extend his current streak of eight scoreless innings against a Bulldog lineup that is slashing just .244/.375/.369 on the year.
Saturday
Notre Dame will match up against Illinois-Chicago Saturday. Like the Irish, the Flames have opened their season in warmer environs. Coach Sean McDermott’s squad has played three Texas teams to open their season and owns a 3-4 overall record. Brandon Bak has started the second game in both of UIC’s series and projects to be the Irish’s initial adversary on the mound. The senior southpaw has had an effective year, sporting a 2.19 ERA over 12.1 innings of work. Bak pitches off of a high-70s slider that he throws nearly 40% of the time. He’ll be hoping to induce weak contact and keep the Irish lineup off-balance. The Notre Dame lineup would do well to jump on Bak early and force UIC to deploy some of their weaker arms out of the bullpen.
Irish freshman Caden Crowell projects to get the starting nod on Saturday. He’s looking for a get-right start after being roughed up by a potent LSU lineup last weekend, and Saturday might provide the perfect opportunity. UIC is averaging a paltry 3.9 runs per game and is slashing a collective .219/.320/.299.
Sunday
The Irish conclude their stay in Cookeville with a Sunday game against host Tennessee Tech. The Golden Eagles sport a 5-4 overall record and are coming off a Tuesday run-rule loss to Middle Tennessee. Coach Matt Bragga challenged his team by scheduling an away series at Texas A&M to open the season. While the Golden Eagles were swept by the Aggies, they emerged battle-tested and are not a team to be taken lightly. The Golden Eagles won 37 games last year and Bragga has postseason experience, leading the Golden Eagles to a Super Regional final in 2018.
At the plate, look out for senior infielder Eddie Garza, redshirt sophomore infielder Owen Lee and senior outfielder Jorsixt Jimenez. Garza leads the team in hits with 12 through nine games, while Lee and Jimenez lead the team in home runs and RBI, respectively. The trio are the only Golden Eagles batsmen hitting over .275. Tennessee Tech has mixed up their rotation this year, making projecting a starter difficult. Last Sunday’s starter Jaxson Pease had a solid outing against Ohio, going 6.2 innings and allowing two runs. If it’s not Pease on the bump against the Irish, it’ll probably be Logan Moller, a 6-foot-5 sophomore who started on Sunday against Texas A&M. Sunday’s game will be streamed on ESPN+, with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. Eastern.
Irish Outlook
Notre Dame Friday ace Radel was unhittable last weekend in Jacksonville and earned ACC Pitcher of the Week honors for his efforts. He’ll set the tone for the Irish against Alabama A&M on Friday. At the plate, keep an eye on junior catcher Mark Quatrani, who’s been red hot to start the year with a slash line of .522/.600/.783. Watch and see if graduate outfielder and catcher Drew Berkland carries the good vibes forward from his stellar game last Sunday against Indiana in which he had three RBI and an extra-inning walk-off single.
