Notre Dame at Stetson – Game Notes
The Notre Dame baseball team is back in the state of Florida as the Irish as set to take on Iowa, UMBC and host Stetson starting on Friday, February 21. All three games will have live stats available while the weekend finale against host Stetson is set to be streamed on ESPN+.
|
Date |
Time (ET) |
Opponent |
Location |
Probable Starters/Result |
TV |
|
Feb. 21 |
12:00 PM |
Iowa (1-2) |
Conrad Park | Melching Field |
RHP Jack Radel vs. LHP Cade Obermueller |
|
|
Feb. 22 |
12:00 PM |
UMBC (0-0) |
Conrad Park | Melching Field |
RHP Jackson Dennies vs. LHP Brady Fox |
|
|
Feb. 23 |
1:30 PM |
Stetson (3-1) |
Conrad Park | Melching Field |
RHP Rory Fox vs. RHP Mason Davenport |
ESPN+ |
THE MATCHUPS
- IOWA: Notre Dame holds a 42-28-1 all-time record against Iowa. The most recent Irish win came in a 5-2 decision in Clearwater, Florida in February 2012. The Hawkeyes come into the game with a 1-2 record after opening their season a week ago at South Florida.
- UMBC: The Saturday contest between the Irish and the Terriers is the first-ever meeting between the two baseball programs. This is the opening weekend of play for UMBC.
- STETSON: The Irish are 4-3 all-time against the host Hatters. In the most recent meeting of the teams, Notre Dame took a 5-3 win at Stetson in the 2022 season. Stetson holds a 3-1 record entering the weekend with wins over UConn, Penn State, and Missouri last weekend in Puerto Rico.
LAST TIME OUT
The Irish won the series over the Ospreys to kick off the 2025 campaign.
- Notre Dame took the opener by a 5-3 score off four scoreless innings by Jack Radel and a 2-for-5 effort at the dish by Carson Tinney. Tinney belted the first home run of the season for the Irish in his return from a season-ending injury last spring.
- Game two saw Notre Dame put up 19 runs – the most under head coach Shawn Stiffler – in a 19-6 run-rule shortened victory. Estevan Moreno and Bino Watters each hit their first home runs of the season, and DJ Helwig earned the win in relief.
- The Ospreys took the series finale on Saturday night with an 8-1 decision.
2025 CAPTAINS
The 2025 Irish baseball team will look to four captains to help guide the way this spring. John P. and Catherine Murphy Head Baseball Coach Shawn Stiffler announced graduate students OF Brady Gumpf and RHP Jackson Dennies, senior RHP Radek Birkholz, and junior INF Estevan Moreno as team captains for the season.
- Gumpf has played in 92 career contests for the Irish heading into the spring season. He had a single-season career-high 48 games played in 2024 and boasted a .352 on-base percentage with 31 RBI, 12 doubles, and nine home runs.
- Dennies has 41 career appearances and 76.1 innings pitched over his career heading into 2025. During his 2023 campaign, Dennies struck out 49 batters over 46.1 innings of work.
- Birkholz has made 48 appearances with 83.0 innings of work over three seasons for the Irish. He went 3-0 on the mound during the 2024 season with 20 strikeouts in 17.1 innings over nine appearances.
- Moreno had a team-best .625 slugging percentage in 2024 with 13 home runs and 17 doubles. His 42 runs scored was third on the team, and he has competed in 100 games for the Irish through two seasons of play.
TOP TALENT
The Irish have four players listed in the D1baseball.com Preseason rankings by position.
- Junior Estevan Moreno was 24th on the Top 50 shortstops list.
- Sophomore Carson Tinney was tabbed 47th on the Top 50 catchers listing.
- Graduate student Jared Zimbardo was 40th on the Top 100 outfielders report.
- Junior Rory Fox was 106th on the Top 150 starting pitchers list.