Last spring, Notre Dame baseball had a very polarizing beginning to the season. The Irish got off to an 8-1 start in non-conference play before starting off 1-8 in the first three series of ACC play. At 9-9, the midseason slate was up-and-down despite breakout stars such as sophomore utility man Bino Watters and now-Texas Longhorn sophomore catcher Carson Tinney coming into their own.
This season, Notre Dame had a much more consistent start to the season. With a tougher non-conference schedule which included teams such as LSU and UCF, the Irish still emerged with an 8-3 record entering ACC play. Then, they started off a very respectable 6-3 in their first three series matchups in the conference. However, things have since taken a turn for the worse. After sweeping then No. 19 Clemson and reaching the 15-6 mark, the Irish have dropped seven straight games.
Two weeks ago, they were steamrolled by then No. 13 North Carolina at home after entering the top 25 for the first time since the final rankings of 2022. Last weekend, they traveled to Raleigh and were subsequently swept by NC State. Finally, they dropped their seventh game of the skid to Michigan State on Wednesday.
So, what happened?
The problems for Notre Dame start in the bullpen. At the beginning of the season, coach Shawn Stiffler expressed confidence in the pitching depth of the team. Unfortunately, things haven’t quite panned out as he hoped they would. The Irish have held a lead at some point in all nine of their ACC losses, a statistic that Stiffler called “nightmare fuel” in a postgame press conference. A lot of this can unfortunately be attributed to pitching depth, as evident by the NC State series. In all three games, the bullpen surrendered multiple runs.
On the other hand, starting pitching has mostly been a focal point. Junior righty Jack Radel has been just as good as expected this season. He has been tabbed twice as the ACC’s Pitcher of the Week following stellar performances against UCF and Clemson. Statistically, he has also been outstanding: he allows just a .168 batting average to opposing hitters, which is second-best in the ACC. His 64 strikeouts are third in the conference, while his 2.85 ERA stands eighth. Following Radel, graduate righty Ty Uber has been solid this season after transferring from Stanford. He has done well pitching to contact and holds the best record among the Irish pitching staff at 4-1 on the year.
However, the problems once again arise with the third starting pitcher. Freshman left-hander Caden Crowell has struggled thus far. As a freshman, it’s only natural that he takes his lumps. Unfortunately, his 8.40 ERA in eight starts is not going to cut it for a team looking to make a run into the postseason. It’s likely that he will only improve as the year goes on, but his performance is a point of concern nonetheless. One name that has been floated as a potential alternative third starter is senior righty Xavier Hirsch, who hurled five scoreless innings in Friday’s matchup at NC State. Only time will tell what direction the Irish take.
Fortunately, there is still plenty of good and hope to be had for Notre Dame baseball, particularly on the offensive side. Junior catcher Mark Quatrani has filled the shoes of Tinney almost flawlessly since transferring from Cornell. The former First Team All-Ivy Leaguer has been a monster at the plate this year, leading the Irish in hits, home runs, batting average, extra base hits, RBIs and slugging. Beyond Quatrani, the Irish offense has been relatively consistent. Five out of eight players with more than 20 plate appearances are currently sporting averages above .300.
Stiffler felt similarly about the offense. “Our superpower as a group is our ability to offensively come back in games,” he said. Stiffler also explained that team, “has shown to score in bunches and to score early in games, late in games and in the middle.”
Notre Dame cannot count on another late-season surge to propel them into postseason play this year. Last season, the Irish finished an unthinkable 16-3 after losing their series at Boston College. Runs like that are extremely hard to replicate. The key going forward for Stiffler and his men isn’t to hope for another historic run; it’s to play one game at a time and play a consistent brand of baseball that gets them into games and keeps them in them. Eventually, the dominoes will start to fall.
