Notre Dame baseball earns No. 1 ranking in latest Baseball America Top 25
Notre Dame baseball is back on top.
On Monday, the Irish baseball team (11-1, 2-0 ACC) earned a No. 1 ranking in the newest Baseball America poll. It is their highest ranking since 2001 and their best start since 2015.
The bump comes after the Irish swept NC State, who was formerly No. 25 in the poll, in two games in Raleigh this weekend.
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The Friday night victory was a come-from-behind win in which Notre Dame scored eight unanswered runs to beat the Wolfpack 8-4 in 12 innings. On Sunday, Notre Dame got off to a hot start, posting the first four runs and holding on to win 11-4. The third contest was canceled due to weather.
It’s hard to single out specific players for the 11-1 record and the new ranking because the team has been so solid all around, but here are a few notable contributors through the first month of play.
Notre Dame’s three starting pitchers — Aidan Tyrell, John Michael Bertrand and Austin Temple — are a combined 9-0 on the year with a 1.77 ERA. The bullpen has been exceptional as well. The team ERA is 1.71.
When it comes to the bats, Notre Dame has been hot. The team has posted double-digit runs in five of its 12 games, and six players have a batting average above .300.
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First baseman Carter Putz has been the offensive star, if you have to pick one, as he leads the team in batting average (.372), hits (16), runs (16) and RBIs (13). Right fielder Brooks Coetzee leads the Irish with four home runs.
The Irish defense has been stout as well; they entered last weekend with the nation’s top fielding percentage (.992) and did little to suggest they’d fall very far in that category after several notable defensive plays this weekend.
Baseball America’s Top 10
- Notre Dame
- Ole Miss
- Oregon State
- Texas
- Virginia
- Vanderbilt
- Arkansas
- Florida State
- Tennessee
- Stanford
Texas and Stanford were formerly No. 1 and No. 2 in the poll. The Longhorns dropped two of three games at South Carolina last weekend, while the Cardinal fell twice to Pac-12 rival Oregon. Texas had held the top spot for the first three weeks of the season, making the Irish the second team to grab the No. 1 ranking this year.
In addition to Notre Dame, Virginia and Florida State, there are three other ACC teams in the rankings: Georgia Tech (14), Clemson (15) and North Carolina (19). NC State fell out of the rankings after last weekend.
Notre Dame hosts Valparaiso in its home opener on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. ET.
