How Notre Dame baseball has formed one of the best pitching staffs in the country

When Ryan McLinskey inevitably gets the chance to come out of the bullpen to shut the door on Louisville sometime this weekend, expect supreme intensity from the Notre Dame graduate student.

A transfer from Seton Hall, McLinskey has brought an edge the Fighting Irish might not have known it needed but is incredibly fortunate to have now. The right-handed hurler has pitched 10.0 innings in four relief appearances and has yet to allow an earned run. He has struck out 20 batters and has walked three.

His greatest statistic can’t be quantified; the amount of mojo he has injected into Notre Dame teammates each time he has taken the mound.

“It’s the attitude that he brings,” senior outfielder Brooks Coetzee III said. “He’s punching himself between innings. He’s a crazy guy. But we’re feeding off that energy. When he comes in, we know he’s in control.”

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McLinskey is one of eight Notre Dame pitchers to get through at least one inning this season without allowing an earned run. With two saves to his name, he’s made a case to be the Irish’s closer if pitching coach Chuck Ristano ever wanted to go as far as designating that label.

He doesn’t really have to. Notre Dame has a number of bullpen arms he feels comfortable turning to in closing time. The might not all punch themselves, but they sure like punching out opponents. The Irish rank No. 11 nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (11.5).

“They all expect to be reasonably dominant when they take the baseball,” Ristano said. “That’s helped accelerate a lot of that youth into what I hope is going to be maturity and really clean performances as the season goes on. The standard is excellence no matter what year you are in the program.”

The Irish have three tone-setters in the weekend rotation. Senior Aidan Tyrell and graduate students John Michael Bertrand and Austin Temple have a combined 1.77 ERA. They’ve punched out 74 batters in 66.0 combined innings. None of the three have been dealt a loss on their ledger; they have a combined 9-0 record.

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McLinskey’s energy is of no use if he isn’t handed the game with a lead in late-inning situations. Notre Dame’s three starters have been able to get the Irish bullpen to that point time and time again. When starters and relievers are working in tandem and there is no drop off, it breeds a culture of consistency and confidence. Notre Dame brings the nation’s best team ERA (1.66) into the three-game series against Louisville.

“Stability is the first word I think of,” Ristano said. “And it’s more than just their performances. It’s the manner in which they attack between outings. The attention to detail John Michael Bertrand puts in his bullpens. The attention to detail Aidan Tyrell puts in his conditioning. Austin Temple being a new face but acclimating to the program demands.

“When you come watch us practice or you watch those guys do anything, how they do it is so professional. That’s what helps their performances, also knowing they’ve got guys behind them who are capable of getting them out of a mess they’ve created is somewhat liberating. It helps for the average age of your starting rotation to be 23, but these are guys who really work at it.”

There’s no better feeling for a head coach than to have no reason to worry when starting games and to be just as assured when it’s time to pick up the phone to make a call to the bullpen. Notre Dame head coach Link Jarrett said it hasn’t happened by accident.

“These guys are competing,” he said. “They’re competing to get the innings they want. They’re competing because there are professional scouts evaluating every pitch you throw. It’s competitive when you step out here. Not just to help Notre Dame win, but these guys are fighting for their baseball futures. That’s a good thing to have. You can see the hunger those guys have to come out here and perform.”

Preview: No. 1 Notre Dame (12-1) at Louisville (13-4)

Where: Jim Patterson Stadium (Louisville, Ky.)

When: Friday at 4 p.m. ET, Saturday at 1 p.m., Sunday at 1 p.m.

Watch: ACC Network (Friday); ACCNX (Saturday and Sunday)

Probable pitchers: Friday: LHP Aidan Tyrell (3-0, 1.80 ERA) vs. LHP Tate Kuehner (3-0, 1.74 ERA); Saturday: LHP John Michael Bertrand (4-0, 1.80 ERA) vs. RHP Jared Poland (1-1, 1.38 ERA); Sunday: RHP Austin Temple (2-0, 1.70 ERA) vs. LHP Riley Phillips (2-0, 2.37 ERA)

Noting Notre Dame: The Irish have the second-best WHIP (0.94) to go along with the nation’s best team ERA (1.66); No team in the nation has given up less hits per nine innings (5.58) than Notre Dame; The Irish have the best fielding percentage (.992) in the country; Notre Dame has won eight road series in a row; Notre Dame’s 10-game winning streak is the longest of the Link Jarrett era and the longest for the program since 2015.

Noting Louisville: The Cardinals have won 10 of their last 11 games; Louisville ranks third nationally in runs per game (10.3) and fourth nationally in team batting average (.334); Louisville holds a 33-9 all-time record against Notre Dame; The Cardinals have won 24 of 30 home series since joining the ACC.