SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The sixth-ranked Notre Dame baseball team (19-5, 7-4 ACC) clinched another ACC series with a 8-1 win over Clemson (19-11, 2-8 ACC) Saturday afternoon at Frank Eck Stadium. With the win, the Irish improved their winning streak to seven games and picked up their third ACC series win of the season.
Another strong pitching performance carried the Irish in the win. Austin Temple picked up his third win of the season after pitching 5.1 scoreless innings and allowed just four hits. He tied a career high with nine strikeouts, the third time this season he has had nine in a game.
At the plate, the long ball was key as the Irish hit four on the afternoon. Nick Juaire got it started with a solo home run in the second to put the Irish up 1-0. Then the Irish hit a home run in consecutive innings from the sixth to the eighth. Brooks Coetzee III and Danny Neri hit solo home runs while Carter Putz hit a three-run blast. Putz led the way for the Irish at the plate with three hits and tied a career high with five RBI.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish struck first for the second straight game in the series. Juaire got one up in the jet stream out in right field and it cleared the trees for his first career home run. The solo shot put the Irish up 1-0 after the first two innings.
The Irish added to their lead the very next inning after loading the bases. Putz stepped into the box with two outs and ripped a single past the shortstop into center field.Neri and Spencer Myers scored on the play and the Irish lead grew to 3-0.
The Tigers were threatening in the top of the sixth with the tying run at the plate and two runners on and one out. The Irish went to the pen and Ryan McLinskey struck out two-straight Tigers batters to end the inning and end the threat.
The Irish immediately responded in the next half inning by adding a run to their lead. Coetzee III led the inning off with a solo blast over the wall in left into the wind. His team-leading seventh home run of the season put the Irish up 4-0 after six innings.
Notre Dame put the exclamation point on the game in the bottom of the seventh. The first two batters reached to start the inning as Putz stepped into the box. He took the pitch the other way and it cleared the wall in right for a three-run blast. It was Putz’s fifth home run of the season and the Irish held a 7-0 lead.
Another long ball was up in the eighth inning for the Irish. Neri led the inning off with his first career home run and the fourth of the game for the Irish. It increased the lead to 8-0 and it was the fifth inning of the game that the Irish scored in.
With the series win secured, Notre Dame improves to 16-2-1 in regular season series under head coach Link Jarrett. The Irish are 14-2-1 in ACC series over the past three seasons under Jarrett.
UP NEXT
The Irish will go for the series sweep when the two teams close the series out Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. ET from Frank Eck Stadium and it will be streamed on the ACC Network Extra. Admission is free for all fans this season at Frank Eck Stadium.
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