Notre Dame, Florida State set for pitching duel in ACC Tournament
It’s a new season for Notre Dame baseball (33-13, 16-11 ACC), as the Irish begin play in the ACC Tournament against Florida State (33-22, 15-15 ACC) on Thursday afternoon.
The Seminoles are coming off of a 13-3 drubbing of Virginia on Wednesday, the most runs scored by the team in an ACC Tournament game since 2016 and the program’s 3,000th win in school history. Florida State has won 10 of its last 11 games against ranked opponents.
Notre Dame head coach Link Jarrett and the Irish faced Florida State in early April in a three-game series. Jarrett and Co. took all three contests, but it wasn’t easy. Left-handed pitcher Parker Messick, who will be on the mound for Florida State on Thursday, dominated the Irish. He threw eight innings of two-hit baseball, although the Irish were able to take advantage of the bullpen in extra innings to win the game by a final score of 2-0.
“When you play these teams, you have to evaluate, assess and feel what it was like facing Messick (last time),” Jarrett said Wednesday. “He’s one of the best pitchers in the country. Being able to manage it is where the rubber meets the road, and it’s not easy.
“He stuffs that fastball. He can throw it to either side, but he seems to so effectively jam that fastball in. And he has good secondary pitches.”
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Messick’s 6-4 record does not tell the whole story, as he has dominated batters all season. The Florida native is second in the nation in total strikeouts with 136, a number which leads the ACC by 28 punch outs. He’s averaging 13.8 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. When Messick faced the Irish earlier this season, he sat 11 batters down on strikes.
As a team, Florida State leads the country with 665 strikeouts this season, the third-most in single-season program history.
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Notre Dame will have its ace on the mound as well on Thursday in John Michael Bertrand. The sixth-year player racks up the strikeouts too and has 86 on the second (seventh in the ACC). When he faced Florida State earlier this year, he struck out 12 batters. Bertrand was named first-team All-ACC for the second consecutive year season this week.
In other words, this could be a quick, low-scoring game.
Notre Dame-Florida State preview
Where: Truist Field (Charlotte, N.C.)
When: Thursday at 3 p.m. ET
Watch: Regional sports networks (TV), ACCNX (online), Sirius XM ACC Radio channel 371 (radio)
Probable pitchers: LHP Bertrand (7-2, 2.62 ERA) vs. LHP Messick (6-4, 3.05 ERA)
Noting Florida State: Prior to the Virginia win, Florida State had lost four consecutive games, including a sweep at the hands of North Carolina; the Seminoles are 1-1 at neutral sites this season; catcher Jaime Ferrer has been hit by 23 pitches this season, which leads the ACC; catcher Colton Vincent leads the ACC with 524 putouts this year.
Noting Notre Dame: The Irish are 10th in the NCAA and first in the ACC in fielding percentage with a .981 mark this season; Notre Dame is one of three teams in the country to rank in the top 25 nationally in scoring (25th), ERA (21st) and fielding percentage; second baseman Jack Penney is third in the ACC with a 1.191 OPS.
