May 22, 2018
By Megan Golden
DURHAM, N.C. — In its third appearance in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, the No. 11 University of Notre Dame baseball team lost control of the lead late, falling 6-2 to seventh-seeded Miami (28-25) on Tuesday night.
Looking to avenge his only loss of the season (March 9 against the Hurricanes), Irish starter Scott Tully limited Miami to one run on five hits over 6.0 innings. The Irish bullpen struggled to maintain that lead, however, allowing five runs in the eighth inning.
How It Happened
Miami opened the scoring in the second inning as Raymond Gil doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Willy Escala followed with an RBI-single to put the Hurricanes up, 1-0.
David LaManna answered with a double down the left field line, and Cole Daily moved him over with a bunt single with nobody out. Then, Jake Johnson ripped a single to right to drive in LaManna and even the score at 1-1. Podkul grounded into a double play that scored Daily and gave the Irish a 2-1 advantage.
Andrew Belcik entered in relief of Tully in the seventh. Belcik worked 1.0 scoreless inning before allowing Miami to even the score in the eighth, courtesy of an RBI-double from Danny Reyes. Cole Kmet took over for Belcik with two men on base and nobody out in the inning. The lefty allowed a run-scoring single that gave Miami a 3-2 lead and ultimately allowed four runs, two of which were inherited runners.
Notes
- Notre Dame moves to 7-21 all-time against Miami and 0-2 against the Hurricanes in ACC tournament play.
- Scott Tully wraps the season 4-0 with a 4.77 ERA (31 ER/65.0 IP) and 38 strikeouts in his last 10 starts. Opposing pitchers have gone 0-4 with a 5.28 ERA (36 ER/61.1 IP) in those games.
- Eric Gilgenbach went 2-for-4, recording his fourth multi-hit game in his last 10 starts.
With the loss to Miami, Notre Dame (24-29) cannot advance in the tournament. The Irish are scheduled to play No. 2 Clemson at 3 p.m. ET on Wednesday in their final game of the tournament.
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.