After defeating Central Michigan 5-3 on Tuesday, the Irish took down Milwaukee on Wednesday in Frank Eck Stadium to improve to 21-20 on the season. Behind a monstrous offensive effort, the Irish won 16-2 in seven innings to gain back-to-back victories before hosting Sanford this weekend.
Freshman righty Aiden Zerr started on the mound for the Irish. Zerr stranded a runner on third with a final strikeout to close the top of the first inning. On the other side, graduate senior outfielder Drew Berkland walked for the Irish, and sophomore outfielder Bino Watters advanced him to third. With runners on the corners, it took two more batters for freshman infielder Dylan Passo to drive Berkland home and give Notre Dame its first lead. Passo finished the day with two hits and two RBIs to help the Irish offense. Heading into the second, Notre Dame led 1-0.
Zerr held the Panthers scoreless again, setting up another early chance for Notre Dame’s struggling offense to take a controlling lead. Sophomore infielder Parker Brzustewicz led off the bottom of the second with a left-field double to put the first runner in scoring position for the Irish. Then, freshman infielder Mason Barth singled to right to advance Brzustewicz. That set up freshman Jamie Zee to smash a single into left field to make the lead 2-0. With two runners on, Berkland sent a home run over the right field fence to give the Irish a 5-0 lead. Berkland finished with three RBIs and three hits to spearhead the Irish attack as the lead-off hitter.
Zerr added on another scoreless inning, this time retiring the first three Milwaukee batters. Zerr totaled 42 pitches through three innings and regained some pitching confidence as a young starter. Graduate lefty Evan Clark took over for Zerr in the fourth and continued to hold the Panthers’ offense empty. Up 5-0, Berkland found the bases for a third straight time in the fourth as he singled and advanced to second on an error. Junior catcher Mark Quatrani drove in Berkland from second with a single to bring the margin to 6-0. Soon after, sophomore Jayce Lee drove in Passo for another run to give the Irish the 8-0 lead. Brzustewicz walked, and Barth drove him in on a single up the middle to make it 9-0 after only four.
Milwaukee drove in two runs in the top of the fifth on a double, but the 9-2 margin is the closest they would stay. The Irish came back, adding more run support in the fifth. Berkland hit another single and reached third after an additional defensive error. Watters and Quatrani laced back-to-back doubles to score two more Irish runners. Then Passo singled again to give the Irish the double-digit lead 12-2.
Freshman lefty Dylan Singleton was up to the mound next. Through two innings of work, he struck out five batters, half of the total strikeouts of the game. The offense was still not finished as Barth led off with a single, and Zee drove him in with another double. Freshman outfielder Caleb Ricks demolished a triple to right-center to drive in two more runners. Then junior Troy Reader drove in Ricks with a sacrifice to left. The additional four runs gave the Irish a 16-2 lead after six innings, and in the top of the seventh, Singleton closed it out with his final two strikeouts, sandwiching a failed steal attempt.
Notre Dame managed 22 hits throughout the contest, which was its first 20-plus hit game since February of 2022. Berkland led the Irish, going 3-3 with a home run. Both Quatrani and Lee collected three hits and two RBIs, and Barth had three and one. Watters, Passo, Brzustewicz and Zee all totaled two hits on the night, each posting a double and scoring at least once. It was also a milestone game for sophomore midfielder Jonathan Holt as he earned his first career hit for Notre Dame.
Notre Dame will pick back up this weekend against Stanford in the penultimate conference series of the season. Despite recent struggles in conference play, the Irish offense has bounced back in midweek games and looks to continue that trend against significantly more difficult competition. The three-game home stand begins on Friday at 6:30 pm.
