Notre Dame baseball dominated on the road this weekend, winning three games against Alabama A&M, UIC and Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tennessee. The Irish outscored their three opponents 44-5 in a final tune-up before ACC conference play begins next weekend.
Friday
Notre Dame opened the weekend with a noon game against Alabama A&M. The Irish dominated the contest, vanquishing the Bulldogs 19-2 in a seven-inning rout. Reigning ACC Pitcher of the Week Jack Radel started on the mound for the Irish. The junior dealt over six innings, striking out 10 hitters while allowing two hits and two unearned runs. The workhorse righty hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last 14 innings, and his season ERA sits at a minuscule 1.69.
At the plate, Notre Dame scored three runs in the first inning, five in the second, two in the third and nine in the fifth. The Bulldog’s pitching staff struggled to find the strike zone, walking 11 Irish batters and plunking three. In total, the Irish scored 19 runs on 14 hits and 11 walks. Alabama A&M managed just two runs on two hits, striking out 10 times while walking just once. It was a balanced offensive attack from the Notre Dame lineup as nine Irish hitters collected a hit. Graduate outfielder Drew Berkland, junior catcher Mark Quatrani, sophomore DH Bino Watters and sophomore third baseman Parker Brzustewicz each paced the team with three RBI, while Brzustewicz led the team with three hits.
Saturday
Notre Dame matched up against Illinois-Chicago on Saturday for another noon contest. After a quiet start, the Irish bats came alive in a big way, and Notre Dame cruised to a 14-3 victory in eight innings. Freshman lefty Caden Crowell got the starting nod for the Irish. The Flames opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the top of the third, but the Irish responded in the bottom of the frame with RBI singles from Coy and Watters to knot the score at two runs apiece. Notre Dame took the lead in the fourth with an RBI single from Berkland, and they’d hold the lead for the rest of the contest.
Freshman second baseman Mason Barth’s three-run homer put the Irish up 6-2 in the bottom of the fifth, and Quatrani returned the favor with another three-piece in the sixth, making the score 9-2 after six. UIC hit a solo shot in the seventh, but the Irish matched the Flames with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame. In the eighth, Notre Dame loaded the bases with two walks and a single. With the Irish up 10-3, freshman center fielder Brandon Logan slugged a walk-off grand slam, pushing the Irish over the 10-run threshold and ending the game at 14-3.
Crowell turned in the longest start of his young Irish career, going 5.1 solid innings and giving up two runs on six hits and a walk, striking out four. Grad reliever Noah Rooney finished out the game and turned in a quality performance, giving up one run on one hit, walking none and recording a strikeout. In total, the Irish recorded 14 runs on 17 hits, collecting four walks.
All nine Irish hitters recorded a hit, with Coy and Logan leading the team with three hits each. Both Quatrani and Barth recorded three RBI to pace the lineup. UIC managed three runs on seven hits, collecting one free pass.
Sunday
Notre Dame’s final game of the weekend was a 3 p.m. clash against host Tennessee Tech. In a game where both starters were dominant, the Irish offense put up a five-spot in the sixth and seventh innings, and Notre Dame cruised to an 11-0 run-rule victory. On the mound, Notre Dame starter graduate RHP Ty Uber was stellar, silencing the Golden Eagles’ bats to the tune of five scoreless innings, scattering two hits (both singles) and two walks, striking out two. He was equally matched by Tennessee Tech’s freshman pitcher Logan Moller, who turned in four scoreless innings while striking out five, before exiting with an arm injury. Notre Dame’s hitters would find more success against the Golden Eagles' bullpen, swatting three singles to plate sophomore right fielder Jayce Lee in the top of the fifth.
After a quiet sixth inning in which the Irish stranded two runners, Notre Dame put up five runs in the top of the seventh to take a 6-0 lead. The Irish loaded the bases with two singles and a walk. With one out, Coy hit a deep fly off the right field wall to score Barth. The next at-bat, Logan came around on a Quatrani sacrifice fly. Watters then cleared the bases with an opposite field bomb, parking an 0-1 offering beyond the left field fence for his second home run of the season.
The Irish kept up the pressure in the top of the eighth, setting the table with a single and two walks. With two outs and the bases loaded, Quatrani hit a grand slam to deep left field to make the lead 10-0. Watters, the next hitter up, replied in kind with a solo shot to right center for his second home run of the day. Irish freshman reliever Dylan Singleton retired the Golden Eagles in order in the bottom of the eighth, ending the game at 11-0 Irish.
Notre Dame dominated the Golden Eagles at the plate, outhitting them 16-2. The Irish bullpen trio of sophomore RHP Kellan Klosterman, graduate RHP Eli Thurmond and Singleton combined for three scoreless no-hit innings, while the Tennessee Tech bullpen gave up 11 runs after a near-flawless start from Moller. The Irish lineup ground down the Golden Eagle’s bullpen with a disciplined approach and timely hitting.
Thirteen of Notre Dame’s 16 hits went for singles, with Irish hitters content to move station-to-station and set the table for big knocks from Quatrani and Watters. Lee paced the Irish lineup with four hits, while Quatrani led the Irish with five runs batted in. Watters showcased his power on both fields, slugging a homer to each. He totaled four runs batted in for an uber-productive day at the plate.
Looking Ahead
This weekend’s series was Notre Dame’s last nonconference series before May. Notre Dame is scheduled to play its home opener this Tuesday against Eastern Michigan, with first pitch scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Next weekend, the Irish travel to Durham, North Carolina, to open ACC conference play with three games against the Duke Blue Devils.
