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Notre Dame baseball wins series vs. Link Jarrett, Florida State

IMG_9992by:Tyler Horka•04/30/23•

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notre dame baseball
Notre Dame baseball. (Photo by Notre Dame athletics)

Notre Dame didn’t let a weird weekend affect the Fighting Irish’s push for a postseason berth. With the head coach who led the program for the past three seasons in the opposing dugout, the Irish took two of three games from Florida State to keep the march toward the NCAA Tournament very much alive.

At the beginning, it looked like that wouldn’t be the case.

FSU coach Link Jarrett, who went 86-32 as Notre Dame’s skipper from 2020-22, guided his alma mater to a 3-2 loss in the series opener Friday at Frank Eck Stadium in South Bend, Ind. The Irish bats woke up in a big way Saturday and Sunday. Notre Dame exploded for a 12-2 win in game two and a 12-8 victory in game three.

The Irish are now 25-17 overall and 13-11 in ACC play with two conference series remaining until the ACC Tournament at the end of May. Florida State dropped to 15-27 overall and 6-18 in league play in what is turning out to be one of the worst seasons in program history. The Noles have never finished with a losing record. With 12 regular season games remaining, the best they could do if they won out is .500.

Notre Dame, meanwhile, is in the driver’s seat to record another 30-win season, which would be the Irish’s third in a row. Head coach Shawn Stiffler and company host Bowling Green this Tuesday, May 2, before staying in South Bend for a weekend series vs. NC State from May 4-6. The Irish don’t play again thereafter until another home series vs. Akron from May 12-14.

Notre Dame and Northwestern play a midweek game at Wrigley Field in Chicago on May 16, and then the Irish finish the regular season in a three-game series at Boston College from May 18-20. The second game of the series will be held at Fenway Park.

Notre Dame bashed seven home runs in Saturday and Sunday’s games this weekend. Sophomore Jack Penny had a grand slam Saturday. Graduate student Carter Putz had two homers Sunday. The Irish bats are getting hot at just the right time after prolonged dry spells doomed them at times earlier in the year.

Starting pitcher Blake Hely turned in a masterclass outing Saturday in only giving up two earned runs and five hits in 7.0 innings. He struck out eight batters and only walked one. Friday night ace Aidan Tyrell was nearly just as effective in Friday’s loss; he allowed three earned runs on five hits in 7.0 innings. He walked four, struck out three and did not receive the same level of run support as Hely.

Sunday, Stiffler called on five pitchers to string out the series win. Junior Ryan Lynch came on in the eighth after FSU scored three runs in the frame to shut down the threat with an inning-ending strikeout. Junior Sammy Cooper entered in the ninth to shut things down.

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