Irish Come Up Short Against Hokies

Box Score (PDF)

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame baseball team fell in a 6-1 final against Virginia Tech on Saturday afternoon in game two of the three-game series.

The Irish defense clamped down on the Hokies in the first and second innings. Virginia Tech put a pair of runners on base with two outs in the top of the first before DJ Helwig induced a fly out to center field to end the inning. Brady Gumpf then made a diving catch in right field with two outs in the second to end the inning.

Virginia Tech plated three runs in the top of the the third inning on a pair of hits, a hit batter, and a walk. The Irish tried to get things going in the bottom of the third. Jared Zimbardo laced a two-out single through the left side, and Parker Brzustewicz added a single to center field to put a pair on base. The Irish, however, were unable to keep the two-out rally going in the inning and came up empty-handed.

Dylan Heine came in and struck out the first batter he faced in the top of the fourth. With runners on the corners and two outs gone in the same inning, the defense came up with the big play to keep the Hokies from adding to their lead. The runner on first broke to second while the runner at third tried to slide into home before an out could be made, but the Carson Tinney to Connor Hincks to Parker Brzustewicz caught stealing sequence successfully got the Virginia Tech runner out between first and second before the other Hokie runner touched the plate.

Heine kept the visitors off the scoreboard again in the top of the fifth. In the bottom half of the inning, Nick DeMarco punched a single through the left side to get on base, and an error by the Virginia Tech second baseman put DeMarco on third while Jayce Lee reached first base. Jared Zimbardo then drove in DeMarco with a hard hit infield single to make it a 3-1 game.

The Irish put a runner on base in each of the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, but the home side was unable to chip further away at the deficit. The Hokies plated three runs in the top of the ninth, and the rally down the stretch was unable to come to fruition for the Irish in the 6-1 final.

DJ Helwig suffered the loss on the mound for the Irish after going two-and-two-thirds on the bump. Sammy Cooper recorded a strikeout, and Dylan Heine went 2.2 scoreless on the mound with a pair of strikeouts. Oisin Lee closed out the final 3.1 innings and struck out three.

Jared Zimbardo went 3-for-5 with an RBI in the contest. Parker Brzustewicz, Carson Tinney, Connor Hincks, and Nick DeMarco each collected a hit, and DeMarco scored a run.

The series rubber match between the Hokies and the Irish is set to begin at noon on Sunday. Admission is free for all home regular season Notre Dame baseball games. Young fans will have the opportunity to run the bases after Sunday’s contest.