Irish Land Three on All-ACC Teams

May 21, 2018

By Megan Golden

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The Atlantic Coast Conference announced its all-conference teams on Monday, and three University of Notre Dame baseball players received All-ACC honors. Irish second baseman Nick Podkul and third baseman and outfielder Matt Vierling each earned Second Team All-ACC accolades, while outfielder Eric Gilgenbach was named Third Team All-ACC.

Hailing from Schererville, Indiana, Podkul is batting .321 with 24 extra-base hits, 40 runs scored and 40 RBI. Podkul ranks seventh in the ACC in on-base percentage with a .439 mark. Earlier this season, Podkul snapped an on-base streak of 22 straight games, dating back to 2017. The second baseman hit .398 (33-83) with eight doubles, two triples, two homers and 21 RBI during the streak.

Vierling, who has split his time between third base and center field, is hitting .317 with nine homers, 41 RBI and 37 runs scored. Vierling has shined in conference play, recording a hit in 21 of 26 games (since April 1) and batting .333 (34-102) with 11 multi-hit performances and 20 RBI over that span.

Gilgenbach is batting .265 with a career-high and team-best 10 home runs, a team-high 44 RBI and 30 runs scored. In ACC play, Gilgenbach hit at a .281 clip with five homers and 19 RBI. The outfielder from Rochester Hills, Michigan, has manned right field and owns a .992 fielding percentage with five assists in 2018.

The all-conference honor marks the first of its kind for Podkul and Gilgenbach and the second for Vierling (third team in 2017).

Eleventh-seeded Notre Dame opens play in the ACC Championship at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday versus No. 7 Miami. The Irish and the Hurricanes will square off at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, and the game will be streamed on ACC Network Extra 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.

–ND–

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.