Notre Dame baseball gets back on track, routs Northern Illinois 11-2
The longest losing skid of Notre Dame head coach Link Jarrett‘s tenure ended at four games.
On Tuesday, Notre Dame (13-5) hosted Northern Illinois (4-18) on a frigid, windy afternoon in South Bend and emerged with an 11-2 victory. Freshman pitcher Roman Kimball got the win, his first of the year, while Northern Illinois’ Connor Langreder moved to 0-2 on the season.
The Irish are now 8-0 in mid-week contests under Jarrett, and Notre Dame is 9-3 all-time against the Huskies.
Here are three observations from Tuesday’s contest:
A tale of two games
Tuesday’s matchup seemed to have two parts: a death by a thousand cuts first few innings in which the Irish posted hit after hit, and a wild, messy few innings to blow the game open. The Huskies finished with three errors, four passed balls, a catcher’s interference call and a hit batsman.
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Notre Dame shortstop Zach Prajzner scored three times on the day, and the runs came on a wild pitch, passed ball and when Huskies pitcher Nick Bonk hit Irish third baseman Jack Brannigan with the bases loaded.
Irish bats come alive despite Coetzee slump
When Notre Dame scores double-digit runs this season, outfielder Brooks Coetzee is typically involved. That was not the case on Tuesday, as the Irish home run leader went 0-for-4. The nine-run win is a testament to the depth Jarrett has on his roster, something he has touted all season.
“You want the opponent to feel like they never come up for air,” Jarrett said after a win over Valparaiso on March 15.
That was certainly the case on Tuesday. Notre Dame posted a team batting average of .400 on the day, going 14-for-35. Four players had at least two hits, and Prajzner went 3-for-3.
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Bullpen gets much-needed confidence booster
It was a bullpen game for the Irish, as righty Liam Simon got it started in his first start of the season and second of his three-year Irish career.
“We watched Liam do some things in training that were pretty exceptional, but we hadn’t found the right role for him yet,” Jarrett said after the game. “The relief roles hadn’t been what we wanted out of him, so we thought let’s just start him.”
The junior faced 10 batters, struck out three of them, and allowed an earned run. He sat down seven straight Huskies to start the game.
Kimball and Jack Findlay each tossed 2.1 innings a piece. Kimball allowed one hit, Findlay allowed zero, and the duo struck out seven batters. Radek Birkholz made his seventh appearance of the year, and while a few walks got him in a jam, he ultimately allowed zero runs. Jackson Dennies came in to close it out and struck out the side in the ninth inning.
“Today was good,” Jarrett said. “We got a lot of guys involved, and everyone threw the ball fairly well in tough conditions.
On the day, the Huskies went 3-for-30 from the plate and struck out 13 times.
Next up, Notre Dame heads to Tallahassee for a three-game series against Jarrett’s alma mater, Florida State. The Seminoles are the No. 5 team in the nation according to the latest D1 Baseball poll. The same poll has the Irish at No. 16. First pitch of Game 1 will be at 7:00 p.m. ET on ACCNX.
