For Notre Dame baseball, the long grind of conference play begins this weekend. The Irish (5-4) will visit Georgia Tech (11-2) for the first time in four years to kick off the 30-game slate. Though Notre Dame never played dominant baseball through its first three series, head coach Shawn Stiffler is not too worried with plenty of season left.
Notre Dame softball will head back to the Tar Heel State for its second ACC series of the year. The Irish (11-6, 1-2), will face NC State (5-13, 0-3) at Dail Softball Stadium. Last weekend, both teams suffered series losses against ranked opposition. Notre Dame took No. 15 Duke to the wire, but dropped game three in dramatic fashion. Meanwhile, the Wolfpack went winless at No. 11 Virginia Tech, scoring just four runs in three games.
Golf, for as long as I can remember, was one of my dad’s favorite pastimes. He loved to watch golf, play golf, drink with his friends while playing golf, buy clubs for golf — you get it (I have already reached the point at which golf seems like it’s not a real word).
Saint Mary’s lacrosse maintained their winning record on the season but split the weekend 1-1 as they took on Beloit and Carthage. The Belles took down the Buccaneers 13-2 on Friday but couldn’t keep that momentum on Saturday falling 18-6 to the Firebirds.
Notre Dame baseball set off to Birmingham, Alabama this past weekend to take on the UAB Blazers in a pivotal series. After two series against Lipscomb in Nashville and UNCG in Greensboro, the Irish sat at a disappointing 3-3. If the Irish are to be the “consistently top 25 team,” as Coach Shawn Stiffler described, and truly compete in the gauntlet of ACC play and the NCAA tournament, winning series such as these is essential.
The pieces to the puzzle were all there. Playing on home ice with the confidence of back-to-back series wins against top-10 opposition, Notre Dame hockey had its chance to solidify itself among the NCAA tournament field. Friday’s victory put the Irish a win away, but No. 20 Michigan State stormed back Saturday and Sunday to take out ND in the Big Ten quarterfinals. Given Notre Dame’s position right around the .500 mark, the series loss will likely end the season.
Solutions by The State News
