DELAND, Fla. – The Notre Dame baseball team earned a gritty 2-1 win in 11 innings against Iowa at Stetson University’s Melching Field on Friday afternoon.
After both sides were retired in the top of the first, Jared Zimbardo beat out an infield single in the top of the second to get the first runner on base for the Irish. The offense was halted, however, as a double play ended the chance prematurely. The Hawkeyes put their first two runners on base in the bottom half of the second. Jack Radel induced an infield fly before a force out at second gave the Irish two outs. Estevan Moreno then shut the door on the Iowa threat by gunning out the runner on a groundout.
DM Jefferson drew a leadoff walk in the top of the third, and Nick DeMarco put down the sacrifice bunt to move Jefferson into scoring position. Noah Coy was hit by a pitch to get a pair of runners on base, but back-to-back outs halted the offense for the Irish.
The leadoff batter for Iowa drew a walk in the bottom half of the third, but a big strikeout-caught stealing combination by Radel and Carson Tinney put two outs on the scoreboard for the Notre Dame defense. A fly out two batters later sat down the offensive side for the Hawkeyes. The Irish had a chance after Estevan Moreno and Jared Zimbardo drew back-to-back walks, but the timely hit was again elusive as the pair were unable to advance any further.
The Hawkeyes started the fourth with a double and used an infield ground out two batters later to advance the runner to third. A two-out double to right field to plate the first run of the game. Noah Coy collected the next ground ball and got the out at first to end the inning. Nick DeMarco had a solid bare-handed play at third to cut down the Iowa leadoff in the fifth, and Jack Radel rung up the next two outs to end the inning.
Parker Brzustewicz led things off in the top of the sixth with a double to right-center field, and Carson Tinney went the other way with a single to right field to put runners on the corners. A bouncing infield single two batters later by Jared Zimbardo drove in Brzustewicz to knot the game at 1-1.
Ricky Reeth came on in relief and retired the side in order in the bottom half of the sixth. Reeth then struck out the first two batters of the seventh before inducing a fly out to center field to end the stanza. Chase Van Ameyde entered the game in the eighth and induced a 1-6-3 double play before picking off a runner to end the inning. Van Ameyde retired the leadoff batter with a fly ball to left field in the bottom of the ninth. The Hawkeyes notched back-to-back singles. A wild pitch advanced the runners up 90 feet, but an unconventional 6-2-3 double play kept the game alive as Estevan Moreno cut down the runner at home before Carson Tinney ran back the runner before tossing to Connor Hincks for the tag out to end the threat.
Iowa had back-to-back singles to start the bottom of the tenth, and the Hawkeyes used a sacrifice bunt to advance the pair into scoring position. The Irish opted for an intentional walk to gain the force out option and keep a double play alive. Tobey McDonough, however, did not need that help as the graduate student right-handed pitcher struck out the next two batters to shut the door.
In the top of the 11th, Connor Hincks unloaded on the first pitch of his at-bat to blast a home run off the videoboard in right field to give the Irish a 2-1 advantage. McDonough was dealing in the bottom half of the inning and wasted little time in retiring the side in order to close out the win for the Irish.
The victory marked the 400th win in the career of John P. and Catherine Murphy Head Baseball Coach Shawn Stiffler’s career, spanning his time at both VCU and Notre Dame.
Connor Hincks went 1-for-3 with the difference-making solo home run, the eighth home run of his career. Jared Zimbardo went 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Parker Brzustewicz added a 2-for-4 effort at the plate with a double, a walk, and a run. Carson Tinney and Nick DeMarco each registered a hit in the win for the Irish.
Tobey McDonough earned the win on the mound after going two complete with two strikeouts. In his second start of the season, Jack Radel went five complete and struck out five. Ricky Reeth allowed just one hit in two innings of work and struck out two. Chase Van Ameyde scattered four hits over two innings of shutout baseball.
The Irish (3-1) are back in action on Saturday as they take on UMBC at noon at Melching Field on the campus of Stetson University.