Notre Dame baseball throttled regional foe Western Michigan on Tuesday afternoon, March 24, 2026, by a dominant score of 14-3. The Irish entered the contest with a 14-6 record and wind in their sails after sweeping No. 19 Clemson last weekend. The confident Irish aimed to protect home turf against a pesky Broncos squad sitting at 10-11 overall. Tuesday’s contest was Notre Dame’s first opportunity to defend its No. 23 national ranking before No. 13 North Carolina comes to South Bend for three games this weekend.
The Irish took control of the game with a five-spot in the bottom of the first. Leadoff man and graduate center fielder Drew Berkland singled up the middle to begin the romp. Sophomore shortstop Noah Coy brought him home with a double down the right-field line, and junior catcher Mark Quatrani then blasted a two-run homer to left, bringing himself and Coy home.
Sophomore left-fielder Bino Watters cranked a moonshot to deep left-center field to make it back-to-back homers. It would take five batters for the Broncos to record an out. The Irish stood strong, and the entire Notre Dame lineup batted in the opening frame, recording five runs on five hits and a walk.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Kellan Klosterman started on the mound for the Irish. Klosterman struggled to find the strike zone, walking three batters and plunking two, but limited the Broncos to two runs through 2.1 innings of work. Freshman rleft-handed pitcher Dylan Singleton replaced Klosterman and spun 1.2 innings in relief.
Notre Dame scratched across one run in the second, six runs in the third, and two in the fourth to take a 14-3 lead through four complete innings. Highlights included sophomore right-fielder Jayce Lee’s three-run jack in the third, Berkland’s triple in the same inning, and two back-to-back fourth-inning singles by Quatrani and Watters that scored a run apiece.
Due to the 10-run lead, the contest ended in the seventh inning in a mercy rule victory for the Irish at a final score of 14-3. Freshman right-hander Aiden Zerr came on in the fifth and provided 2.1 clean innings, while freshman right-handed pitcher Garrett Snyder closed out a scoreless seventh.
Offensive leaders for the Irish included Watters, who went 4-4 with a home run and a trio of singles, and Berkland, who scored every time he came up to bat, totaling four runs on the afternoon. The Irish offense swatted 14 hits and collected nine walks in the contest.
Notre Dame will host No. 13 North Carolina for three games this weekend at Frank Eck Stadium. First pitches are scheduled for Friday, March 27 at 4:30 p.m.; Saturday, March 28 at 2:00 p.m.; and conclude the series Sunday, March 29 at 1:00 p.m.
