Link Jarrett provides initial thoughts on Notre Dame's elimination from College World Series

Notre Dame was knocked out of the College World Series by Texas A&M on Tuesday afternoon after a fantastic run through the postseason. Despite the end of the season, the Fighting Irish have plenty of highlights to look back on after soaking in the moment.

During his postgame press conference, Notre Dame coach Link Jarrett provided his initial thoughts on the elimination from the College World Series but showed that he takes a larger view than just the present moment.

“Well, if there’s a place you want to end it, it’s obviously here,” said Jarrett. “How we ended it was tough. That hurts. That wasn’t indicative of how our team plays. But we just gave them so many opportunities to capitalize. And they did.

“I don’t know the statistic. You guys may know it. But the percentage of games are decided when one team scores more in one inning than the other team scores in the entire game. It’s a statistical fact that that’s how a lot of the games are decided.”

Knowing that interesting statistic could prove the difference in the offensive battle seen so far, his team wanted to focus on the areas which could provide an advantage.

“We tried to pride ourselves on the pitch execution and the defense,” said Jarrett. “And today those things got us a little bit. And their three was more than our one in the third. And we just — the fly ball obviously hurt. I think Jared called that ball early and kept after it. And I think Spencer backed off and didn’t take charge.

“That obviously hurts. And when you give them opportunities like that — it’s a good team; they’re going to capitalize.”

Link Jarrett on elimination

Link Jarrett continued to provide his thoughts on elimination, breaking down where the Fighting Irish slipped up from its gameplan and the areas he felt could have helped the comeback before another turn.

“When you’re in an elimination game, I think that sometimes is a hard mechanism to step back from and just kind of settle and play,” said Jarrett. “I didn’t feel like we ever got into any real rhythm. Had some chances.

“We started to threaten and the double play late hurt. It was tough. It’s a tough way to end. But we’re here. And if there is a space in this game to end your college season, this is clearly the spot. And it’s a tough pill to swallow at the moment. But these guys will reflect on this eventually as a very positive experience. Although it feels unlike that at the moment because we clearly didn’t play a well-rounded game.”