DURHAM, N.C. – The Notre Dame baseball team fell in a 6-5 final on Saturday at Duke after the Blue Devils plated three unearned runs in the bottom of the ninth.
Duke got on the scoreboard first with a two-out run in the bottom of the first inning.
Parker Brzustewicz drew a lead-off walk, and Davis Johnson was hit by a pitch to put a pair on base in the top of the second. Mason Barth drove a single into the outfield to load the bases for the Irish. A slow-rolling grounder by Jamie Zee allowed Brzustewicz to come in to score as the Irish quickly knotted up the score. Two batters later, Noah Coy drove a triple to right-center to plate Johnson and Barth for a 3-1 Irish lead.
The Blue Devils put a pair of runners on base in the bottom of second, but a strikeout by Caden Crowell and a flyout to right field saw the Notre Dame defense hold Duke scoreless in the inning.
A single by Drew Berkland put runners on the corners with Jamie Zee moving from first to third on the hit in the top of the fourth. Berkland swiped second base to put a pair into scoring position. Noah Coy drove a deep sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Zee easily from third.
Duke put a run on the scoreboard before Caden Crowell recorded his fifth strikeout of the day in the fourth. Crowell then induced a flyout to left field as the Irish held the 4-2 lead going into the fifth. Crowell and the Irish retired the Blue Devils in order in the bottom of the fifth with an infield ground out to Jamie Zee at third, a diving snag by Bino Watters in left field and a foul pop up to Parker Brzustewicz for a quick defensive inning of work.
Oisin Lee came on in relief and struck out the first batter he faced before making a big play at the plate to tag out a runner trying to score. Lee then dialed up another strikeout to keep the Blue Devils off the scoreboard and maintain the 4-2 lead for the Irish. In the seventh, Noah Rooney shut the door on Duke with a three-pitch strikeout to end the inning to roll the game over to the eighth.
Davis Johnson led off the top of the eighth with a single, and Mason Barth used a sacrifice bunt to move Johnson into scoring position. A balk allowed Johnson to advance to third base, and a wild pitch two batters later allowed Johnson to come in to score for a 5-3 Irish advantage.
Noah Rooney used a strikeout, a flyout and another strikeout to retire the Blue Devils in order in the bottom of the eighth. Duke, however, plated three unearned runs in the bottom of the ninth to claim the 6-5 decision to set up a Sunday rubber match.
Noah Coy had a triple and two walks while driving in three runs for the Irish. Jamie Zee drove in a run, and Davis Johnson scored twice. Parker Brzustewicz and Mason Barth each had a hit and scored a run. Drew Berkland, Mark Quatrani and Bino Watters each notched a hit at the dish.
Caden Crowell went five-plus on the mound and struck out five. Oisin Lee posted four strikeouts over 1.2 innings of work in relief. Noah Rooney shouldered the loss after he struck out three with no earned runs in two-plus innings on the mound.
The Irish (8-4, 1-1 ACC) square off against Duke in the rubber match to decide the series on Sunday. The start time of the game has been moved up to 11:00 a.m. ET due to the weather forecast in the Durham area.