With Knoxville looming, Notre Dame head coach Link Jarrett is letting Jack Findlay ride his rookie success

It’s an oft-repeated theme in 2022, and with good reason. By and large, Notre Dame has the most veteran of veteran baseball teams this year. Sixteen players were honored on Degree Day, the Irish equivalent of Senior Day, including seven pitchers. 

Now, Notre Dame will take that veteran presence to its second consecutive super regional, the first time the team has made the second round of the postseason in back-to-back years in program history. Each of them will rely on last year’s experience at Mississippi State to prepare for what is sure to be a rowdy crowd and an elite team in No. 1 overall seed Tennessee.

Unless, of course, one doesn’t have that experience. Freshman pitcher Jack Findlay is in that boat. The rookie has accomplished a lot in his short college career, but he likely hasn’t seen what’s about to unfold in Knoxville beginning Friday night.

A hot start

Findlay, a 6-3, 200-pound lefty out of Ledgewood (N.J.) Roxbury, arrived at Notre Dame last fall as the Irish were coming off of their best season in nearly two decades. To the aforementioned point, there was no shortage of experienced talent on the pitching staff to whom the freshman could look.

Irish head coach Link Jarrett knew Findlay was special from the moment he saw him play a few years ago, and he felt the same way once the New Jersey native was in South Bend. 

“He’s a poised, confident kid,” Jarrett said. “He sat there earlier in the year, and we were concerned that we weren’t getting him enough work.”

Findlay made his collegiate debut on March 8 at Elon. His inaugural appearance on the mound was as a starter. The freshman went three innings, allowing one hit and zero earned runs. He struck out three batters. It was a bullpen game for the Irish, so Findlay pitched longer than any of his five teammates who followed him. As such, he notched the win as the Irish drubbed the Phoenix 11-3. 

Over the course of the rest of the regular season, Findlay made 12 additional appearances and seven more starts. He began the year 5-0 before falling to both a hot Pittsburgh team and a top-10 Miami team to conclude the regular season with a 5-2 record. 

“He’s done a little bit of everything,” Jarrett said. “We kept seeing his velocity creep up. He’s really functioned in every role that we’ve asked him to function in.”

But Findlay was about to have to function on a much greater stage.

Drama in Statesboro

After being passed over to host a regional in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, Notre Dame headed to the Statesboro Regional, home of Georgia Southern. They would be the No. 2 seed of the four teams. No. 16 national seed Georgia Southern, Texas Tech and UNC Greensboro rounded out the group. 

Findlay did not see action in Game 1 on Friday, June 3, a 3-2 win over Texas Tech. On Saturday, however, the pitcher would be called upon in relief for the first time since April 26. 

The score was 6-4 in favor of Notre Dame when Findlay took the mound against Georgia Southern in the eighth inning. The Eagles had runners at the corners, and the Irish had yet to get an out. A cool, calm and collected Findlay did not panic, notching back-to-back strikeouts and a groundout to get out of the jam. A 1-2-3 ninth inning subsequently sent Findlay and the Irish to the Statesboro Regional final.

“That’s as good as his fastball has been,” Jarrett said after the game. “He’s pitched well for us. You can look at the numbers, and he’s been effective. But for a freshman to go in that situation, it’s what we needed to do, and he was comfortable with it. He took that thing and went. I’m just very proud of his poise.”

One postseason save? Check. 

Fast forward approximately 24 hours, and a similar situation would present itself. This time the opponent was Texas Tech, and the margin for error was even thinner; Notre Dame had a 2-1 lead, and the bases were loaded. Findlay just needed one out to send the game to the ninth inning. 

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Just like he did on Saturday, Findlay sat the batter down on strikes in a high-pressure situation. In the ninth, he notched one out but then allowed a single and a walk. The tying run advanced to third base on a fly out, while the winning run stole second. Two outs. Game on the line. Texas Tech ace and future top-15 draft pick Jace Jung stepped up to the plate and knocked a groundout. 

Game over. The freshman had done it again. Two postseason appearances. Two saves in shaky situations. 

“Did I think that it was going to get to the point of ‘It’s you, Jack Findlay, to close these games out with the bases loaded?’ I didn’t,” Jarrett said. “But because you know him, you trust him, and you like the matchup, it was right.

“He’s mature enough as a freshman to understand whether it’s that environment, Knoxville or Omaha, pitch execution and conviction of the pitch is the remedy that solves everything for you on the mound. If you can do that, repeat it and keep moving along, attacking with conviction and execution, you have a shot. He’s done that in every role.”

On to Knoxville

Findlay helped put Notre Dame in a position to continue the season, but the Irish aren’t looking back. They have their eyes set on Omaha, where they have not been since 2002. The freshman could be called upon again, this time against the nation’s top team. 

“I don’t know how we’re going to use him this weekend,” Jarrett said ahead of the three-game series against Tennessee. “It may be the same scenario. It may be far earlier in the game. He may start a game. That’s the fun part of our team. You can ask these guys to do multiple things, and they’re unselfish. They’ll do it.”

Despite the usual selflessness, Findlay was able to celebrate an individual award this week. On Wednesday, he was named a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. As it currently stands, he boasts a 5-2 record and 2.11 ERA over 38.1 innings pitched. The lefty has struck out 44 batters while walking 12.

The focus this weekend will once again be the team. And rest assured Findlay will put everything into it, whether that’s in the first inning, ninth inning or anywhere in between. But don’t overlook what the rookie just accomplished, whether Notre Dame makes it to Omaha or not. Jarrett isn’t.

“He’s done a great job. I’m just letting him ride it.”