NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame baseball team had a slow start at the plate in its double header Saturday afternoon at Frank Eck Stadium but the bats came alive in the second game. After dropping the first contest 7-1, the Irish (9-11, 5-3 ACC) knocked off No. 19 Florida State 13-2 (16-6, 4-4 ACC) to split the double header.
In the second game, the Irish put up crooked numbers in five of the first six innings to open a big lead over the Seminoles. Cameron Brown was the shutdown man for the Irish on the mound in game two and started the outing by striking out the side in the first inning.
Spencer Myers reached base a career-high five times and Carter Putz set a career high with four RBI in the second game at the plate for the Irish. Brown continued to keep the Seminoles from a big inning and came back out for the ninth to finish the game. He got the final batter to strikeout to end the game with 12 K’s, a new career high and his first career complete game.
How It Happened – Game 2
After the Irish were limited to one run in the first game, they wasted no time scoring in the second game of the double header.
After two straight walks and a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over, Niko Kavadas hit a sacrifice fly to left that scored Myers for the first run of the game. Next up was Eric Gilgenbach and he ripped a double down the left field line that went all the way to the wall. Daniel Jung scored easily from second and the Irish had a 2-0 lead after the first.
Putz had back-to-back-to-back RBI hits in consecutive innings after the Seminoles got on the scoreboard. He hit an RBI single in the third and then followed it up with a ground-rule double in the fourth to increase to the Irish lead. Notre Dame tacked on two more runs on an RBI single by Jared Miller and led 7-1 after four innings.
Putz was at it again in the fifth inning with his third RBI of the game. After an RBI bunt single by Daniel Jung, Putz singled to left and Myers come around to score.
The Irish eclipsed the double-digit mark in the sixth after putting three more runs on the scoreboard and that was more than enough offense for Brown. He continued to get better as the game went on and kept the Seminoles hitter’s guessing at the plate. He struck out four in the final three innings, including the final batter, to finish the outing with 12 K’s, the most by an Irish pitcher since 2012.
How It Happened – Game 1
It was a pitchers duel between the Irish and Seminoles to open up the first game of the double header. Outside of the Irish threatening in the first, neither team had many opportunities in the first three innings.
The Seminoles offense would break the game open in the fourth and fifth. They put up three runs in the fourth and followed it up with a two-run homer in the fifth to jump out to a five-run lead.
Irish bats were quiet for most of the game until the seventh inning. Kavadas led the inning off with a ground-rule double down the left field line and was the first runner in scoring position since the first inning for the Irish. David LaManna was up next and slapped a single down the right field line to score Kavadas.
That was all the offense could muster and the Irish dropped the first game 7-1.
Game Notes
- Cameron Brown had the best outing of his career in the second game, recording his first career complete game and struck out a career-high 12.
- He joins Tommy Sheehan as the second Irish pitcher to toss a complete game this season. Before Sheehan, an Irish pitcher had not recorded a complete game since 2016.
- The 12 strikeouts is the most since March 23, 2012 when Will Hudgins struck out 12 against Pittsburgh.
- Spencer Myers had a career day at the plate. He tied career-highs with four runs and three hits and got on base a career-high five times.
- Carter Putz set a career high with four RBI and tied a career high with three hits.
- Brooks Coetzee logged a hit in each game to extend his hitting streak to seven games.
- Tommy Sheehan logged six innings of work, his fourth outing this season he has gone at least six innings.
- First career collegiate appearance for Zachary Dreznin in game one. He pitched two innings of relief for the Irish.
Up Next
Notre Dame and Florida State will close out the three-game series Sunday afternoon at Frank Eck Stadium. First pitch has been moved up to 11 a.m. ET due to rain in the afternoon and it will be broadcast on the ACC Network Extra.
For a behind-the-scenes look at the Irish baseball program, follow @NDBaseball on Twitter and @NotreDameBaseball on Instagram. For tickets to an Irish baseball game, click here.
–ND–