April 22, 2018
By Megan Golden
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame baseball team secured its third series win of the season with a 6-5 victory over Virginia Tech on Sunday afternoon at Frank Eck Stadium.
Notre Dame (17-23, 8-13) has won two straight and owns a significant tiebreaker with Virginia Tech (17-23, 7-14), should it play a role in postseason seeding down the road.
How It Happened
Jake Johnson got the offense started for the Irish, knocking a one-out single into center. Nick Podkul followed with a double down the left field line to advance Johnson to third. Matt Vierling then reached on an error by the second baseman, and Johnson scored to put the Irish ahead, 1-0. Niko Kavadas stepped in and delivered a sacrifice fly that helped Notre Dame extend its lead to 2-0.
The Hokies drew back-to-back walks to open the third inning, and Zach Kokoska lined a single into left field to drive in Fernandez and cut the Irish lead to 2-1. A single by Tom Stoffel drove in Stevie Mangrum to tie the game, 2-2, with one out in the inning. Luke Horanski then connected for an RBI-single through the left side to give the Hokies a 3-2 lead.
In the fifth inning, Podkul and Vierling went back-to-back with solo shots over the left field fence to help the Irish regain a 4-3 lead. All with two outs, Kavadas continued the Irish rally with a single, and Alex Kerschner walked. Kavadas and Kerschner advanced a base on a wild pitch, leading the Hokies to walk Eric Gilgenbach to load the bases. Spencer Myers then lined a base hit into left field to score Kavadas and extend the lead to 5-3.
Podkul followed his homer with a two-out, RBI-single through the hole on the left side that drove in Daily and made the score 6-3.
The Hokies added two unearned runs in the top of the ninth inning on a groundout and an RBI-single to cut the deficit to 6-5. Andrew Belcik entered and struck out Jack Owens to earn his second save of the season in the Irish win.
Co-Players of the Game
Nick Podkul finished the day 3-for-5 with a double and a solo home run. The homer tied the game, 3-3, and started the Irish comeback in the fifth inning.
Notre Dame lefthander Cameron Brown entered in the fourth inning and did not allow an earned run in 5.2 innings. Brown struck out four and earned his second win of the season.
Notes
- The Irish won their third series of the season and second in ACC play.
- Notre Dame moves to 14-9 in the all-time series against Virginia Tech, going 7-4 at home.
- Notre Dame is 7-7 at Frank Eck Stadium in 2018.
- Starter Zack Martin worked 3.0 innings, allowing three runs.
- Cameron Brown threw 5.2 innings with four strikeouts, earning his second win of the season.
- Jake Johnson owns a 13-game on-base streak during which he is batting .370 (17-46) with 11 walks, six runs scored and five RBI.
- Eric Gilgenbach has collected six multi-hit games in the month of April (14 games). During that span, the outfielder is batting .347 (17-for-49).
- Matt Vierling extended his hitting streak to seven games, batting .414 (12-29) with one double, one homer, five runs scored and six RBI in those contests.
- Nick Podkul and Matt Vierling connected for back-to-back solo homers in the fifth inning, marking the first time since April 13 and the third time this season the Irish have accomplished the feat.
- Andrew Belcik entered and earned his second save of the season.
Up Next
Notre Dame plays host to Valparaiso at 6:05 p.m. ET on Tuesday in a midweek matchup on ACC Network and 103.1 FM (South Bend)/WatchND.
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.
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Megan Golden, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since August of 2016. In her role, she coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame baseball and women’s soccer programs. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Golden is a 2014 graduate of Saint Mary’s College and former Irish women’s basketball manager. Prior to arriving at Notre Dame, she worked in public relations with the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox.