Notre Dame baseball: A pre-conference play reset, early awards
Random. Sporadic. Inconsistent.
You could pick a number of words to describe the beginning of Notre Dame’s 2022 baseball season. They’ve played 10 games against nine different teams in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Minnesota. They are 9-1, have outscored opponents 93-20 and are ranked No. 3 in the nation in Baseball America’s Top 25.
Now, it’s time for some normalcy. The Irish enter conference play on Friday beginning with a three-game series against North Carolina State in Raleigh.
With early season play in the rearview mirror, here are a few members of the Irish baseball team who deserve recognition after the first 10 games.
2022 Notre Dame baseball statistics
Top slugger: Brooks Coetzee
Coetzee has four home runs and 11 runs batted in (RBI). He leads the team in both categories. That’s about all that needs to be said.
In all seriousness, Coetzee has been one of the best hitters for the Irish this year. Against Elon on Tuesday, he posted a homer, a double and five RBI. The right fielder is batting .361 with 13 hits and eight runs. Additionally, Coetzee boasts a team-best slugging percentage of .778
Mr. Consistent: David LaManna
When LaManna steps up to the plate, there is nearly a 50-50 chance he nabs a hit. The chances of him ending up on base are in excess of 50 percent. On the season, the catcher is 9 for 20 with six runs and three RBI. His on-base percentage is .522.
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Interestingly, every single hit has been a single-base hit; he has zero doubles, triples or home runs. LaManna has struck out just once in 20 at-bats.
Ace on the mound: Aidan Tyrell, John Michael Bertrand and Austin Temple
You just can’t pick one here. Notre Dame’s starting pitching rotation has been lights out. The three pitchers are a combined 8-0 this year; Tyrell and Bertrand have three wins each, while Temple has a pair.
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Tyrell leads the way ERA wise at 0.56 after 16 innings of one-run ball. Notre Dame has a team ERA of 1.41, which is good for No. 1 in the country.
Bertrand and Temple have pitched 20 and 17 innings, respectively, and they each have 23 strikeouts. While Temple has allowed the only home run of the three, he has also given up just eight hits.
The three aces will take the field again this weekend in Raleigh, looking to continue their dominant hold on college baseball to date.
Biggest surprise: TJ Williams and Spencer Myers
Williams is batting .435 through eight games with five starts. The center fielder has 10 total hits, including a double, triple and home run with five RBI after playing in just 12 games last season with zero starts.
The sophomore is getting the opportunity to play at this level due to a slump from Myers. Unfortunately for the center fielder, he is definitely the surprise of the year for the wrong reasons. The graduate student started 47 of Notre Dame’s 47 2021 games and a total of 112 of the 114 games over the last three seasons. On Tuesday against Elon, he was taken out of the lineup after a few stints as a designated hitter.
The outfielder is batting just .125; he has four hits in 32 at-bats. Myers was tied for the team lead in hits last season. A surprise indeed.
Notre Dame-NC State first pitch is Friday at 6 p.m. ET on the ACC Network.
