Previewing Michigan baseball vs. No. 10 Notre Dame: Q&A with a Fighting Irish insider
Michigan Wolverines baseball is 1-2 against ranked opponents, and has a chance to improve on that mark Tuesday night at No. 10 Notre Dame.
The Maize and Blue are fresh off a three-game series sweep over Cal State Fullerton, but have lost three consecutive mid-week games. Notre Dame, meanwhile, has won eight straight contests, including last weekend’s sweep of Clemson.
To preview Michigan’s game against the Fighting Irish, we conducted a Q&A with Notre Dame insider Ashton Pollard of BlueAndGold.com:
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What is the vibe around this team and what it can do this season, including in the NCAA Tournament and potentially beyond?
This is a very veteran team, so it’s hard to get them very high or very low. The Sunday after they had lost four straight, they had one of their best practices of the year, one which head coach Link Jarrett credits as a massive turning point in their season. He said you would have absolutely no idea they were going through their longest losing streak of his time at Notre Dame.
As far as their potential, honestly, it’s Omaha. Obviously, they have to continue putting these winning series together in a difficult conference, but they have three ACC sweeps already. They have a long way to go, and the competition only gets more difficult, but with the depth this team has, the College World Series is not unrealistic.
Who are Notre Dame’s top hitters that the Michigan pitching staff needs to be aware of?
Carter Putz has been Mr. Clutch this year. He leads the team in hits (36), runs (27), RBIs (27) and slugging percentage (.632). The senior and first baseman also has the best batting average amongst the typical starters by a wide margin (.379). Putz posted five RBIs and a home run last weekend against Clemson.
Brooks Coetzee is their big “power hitter,” if you will. He leads the team with seven home runs. He was a bit quiet for a stretch here in recent weeks, but had a good weekend against Clemson. When he’s hot, Notre Dame is hot.
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Notre Dame is a top-10 team and a winner of eight straight games. The Irish had a rough patch before that, though, so are there any notable weaknesses on this team?
That stretch — which included three games against Louisville and one against Virginia Tech — had a couple of things in common. First, those are both great offensive teams. Virginia Tech is fourth in the country in team batting average (.322), and the Hokies’ Jack Hurley has a top-10 batting average nationally (.431). Louisville is eighth nationally in team batting average (.320).
Second, there were bullpen collapses. Notre Dame’s star pitcher John Michael Bertrand started two of those four games, and when he exited the contests the Irish were in good shape. The bullpen is back on track it seems — the pitching staff recently did not allow an earned run for nearly 30 innings — but they’ve shown that if you rattle them, they struggle to respond at times.
The Fighting Irish have the second-best fielding percentage in the country. Who are their best defenders?
They’re a really good defensive team all around, but third baseman Jack Brannigan is particularly notable. He’s also a relief pitcher, so he makes some crazy throws to first that you may not normally see from a college third baseman. Center fielder TJ Williams is also great, but he’s been a bit banged up and hasn’t played in a few games. It remains to be seen if he gets the start on Tuesday.
What should we know about Jack Finlay, who will start on the bump for Notre Dame?
This will be Findlay’s sixth appearance and fourth start this year; the freshman got the starting nod against Elon, Valparaiso and Florida State. When your rookie’s only earned run of the season came against a decent ACC foe in the Seminoles, that sticks out. He is 3-0 with a 0.73 ERA through 12.1 innings pitched.
