Why Notre Dame baseball will save ace John Michael Bertrand for Game 2 of Knoxville Super Regional vs. No. 1 Tennessee

Notre Dame isn’t putting its best starting pitcher on the roster in the lineup for Game 1 of the Knoxville Super Regional against No. 1 Tennessee. The Irish are saving First-Team All-ACC selection John Michael Bertrand for Game 2.

The series starts Friday at 6 p.m., just five days after Bertrand threw 107 pitches in 7 2/3 innings in a 2-1 victory over Texas Tech in the Statesboro Regional championship game. Like most starting pitchers at the college level, Bertrand is heavily acclimated to a full week of recovery. Seven days of rehab and ramp up to the next start. It wouldn’t be wise to put him back on the bump after two days less than that, especially after such a heavy workload his last time out.

Bertrand pitched Sunday because his normal Friday start was thrown for a loop with a six-hour rain delay. Bertrand heaved 26 pitches in one inning before the length of the pause caused him to take the rest of the night off. Even if it’s just one extra day, moving him from Friday to Saturday was a no-brainer for Notre Dame head coach Link Jarrett — especially with a capable No. 2 starter taking over in the series opener.

Graduate senior Austin Temple is 4-1 with a 3.46 ERA with 13 starts in 16 appearances this season. Those aren’t quite Bertrand numbers — 9-2 with a 2.27 ERA in 16 starts — but they’re up there with some of the best Saturday starters in the country.

“I’m OK with it,” Jarrett said of his decision. “Temple is a unique arm where who he is pitching against may not matter as much as Bertrand. And having Bertrand see what this looks like and see how their hitters look, it might actually help him to process that and add what he feels and sees into his game.”

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That worked in the Regional. Bertrand had a rough go of it in Friday’s first inning. He loaded the bases. When he came back against the same Texas Tech lineup two days later, he looked better and much more efficient. A little scouting against the team that has the most home runs in the country (150) and top to bottom one of the best offenses in the country would do Bertrand some good.

With the way the Super Regional is set up — a best of three series — Bertrand was only going to pitch in one game anyway barring an unusual circumstance in which he did not throw enough pitches Friday to completely remove himself as a bullpen option in a potential Game 3 Sunday. He was always guaranteed one start. It’s just coming on Sunday now.

Shuffling the starters allows Jarrett to approach the series with two simple thoughts in mind. If Notre Dame wins Game 1, he has his ace on the mound in a closeout game. If Notre Dame loses Game 1, he has his ace on the mound in a do-or-die elimination game. Neither of those scenarios sound so bad.

Bertrand was dinged for four runs in four innings in Game 1 of last year’s Starkville Super Regional against Mississippi State. Notre Dame lost, 9-8. The Irish came back the following day and won 9-1 on the strength of 7 1/3 innings of one-run baseball from Aidan Tyrell. Bertrand will be in a similar spot as Tyrell this time around. Notre Dame just needs Temple to keep the Irish in Game 1.

Jarrett believes he can.

“He’s got the big breaking ball and the hard slider,” Jarrett said. “That’s what he’s going to have to do regardless of who we’re playing. Bertrand, with the pitch-ability factor so high, I think it will help him to see it.”

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