DeLAND, Fla. – The Notre Dame baseball team put up multiple runs in the final four frames of the game to take a commanding 12-2 win in eight innings against UMBC on Saturday afternoon at Stetson University’s Melching Field.
The Irish stirred the pot in each of the first four innings of action by getting runners on base. Jared Zimbardo and Carson Tinney each drew a walk in the bottom of the first, and Davis Johnson and Noah Coy had a walk apiece in the second. Both times, the Irish put the ball in play hard but were unable to capitalize.
The third inning saw Notre Dame get a pair on base with another walk by Tinney and a single by Parker Brzustewicz before a hard-hit fly ball was collected by the UMBC right fielder in the right-center alley.
Jackson Dennies, meanwhile, had six strikeouts, picked off a runner at first, and allowed just one hit through the first four innings of action to set the tone for the Irish defensively.
Notre Dame broke through in the bottom of the fifth inning of action. Bino Watters led off with a single, and Carson Tinney reached on a fielding error. After two outs were gone with Watters tagging up on a fly out, Davis Johnson delivered a big hit with an RBI single to right field to drive in Watters for the first run of the game. Nick DeMarco added to the lead with a two-RBI double down the left field line to plate both Tinney and Johnson. The Irish kept the two-out energy going as Brady Gumpf laced a single to left-center field to bring in DeMarco for the 4-0 lead.
The Retrievers had three consecutive singles to start the top of the sixth as UMBC got on the scoreboard with a run. Jackson Dennies tallied his eighth strikeout of the game before DJ Helwig came in to record a pair of strikeouts and end the inning.
The Irish responded right back in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs gone, Estevan Moreno kept the inning alive as a hard hit ball led to an error by the Retrievers while pushing Bino Watters to third. Moreno stole second base, and Parker Brzustewicz delivered a bouncing single up the middle to drive in both Watters and Moreno to make it a 6-1 game. DM Jefferson came in to run before Davis Johnson and Nick DeMarco each drew a walk to load the bases. Brady Gumpf beat out an infield single to the 5-6 hole to drive in Jefferson for a 7-1 advantage.
After the Retrievers plated a run in the top of the seventh, the Irish countered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Connor Hincks laced the first pitch of his at-bat to right-center for a double. Carson Tinney drew a walk to put a pair on base before a fielder’s choice put runners on the corners in Hincks and Estevan Moreno. Moreno swiped second, and DM Jefferson delivered a two-out, two-RBI single to right field for the 9-2 lead for the Irish.
Sammy Cooper and Brady Koester teamed up to shut down the Retrievers in the top of the eighth as the pair forced UMBC into stranding bases loaded.
Nick DeMarco was hit by a pitch to begin the eighth inning, and Brady Gumpf laced a single to right field to put a pair on base. An error by the second baseman allowed DeMarco to score, and Jared Zimbardo used a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up. Connor Hincks then drove in a run with an infield grounder to the first baseman to put the Irish a run away from ending the game. Carson Tinney and Estevan Moreno were each hit by a pitch, and DM Jefferson closed things out by being hit by a pitch to push in the game-ending run in the 12-2 final in eight innings.
Jackson Dennies earned the pitching win after scattering four hits and a run over 5.1 innings of work with a career-high eight strikeouts and no walks. DJ Helwig went 1.2 with three strikeouts, and Sammy Cooper and Brady Koester combined for a complete inning of work with no runs allowed on two hits.
Brady Gumpf posted a 3-for-5 effort with two RBI and a run. Parker Brzustewicz added a 2-for-4 showing with a pair of RBI. Nick DeMarco went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk, two runs, and two RBI. DM Jefferson was 1-for-1 with three RBI, and a run. Connor Hincks and Jared Zimbardo each tallied a double as Hincks drove in a run and scored once. Carson Tinney drew three walks on the day and scored once. Noah Coy and Davis Johnson each collected the first hit of their collegiate careers and scored a run, and Bino Watters had a hit and scored twice.
The Irish (4-1) close out the weekend trip with a 1:30 p.m. contest against host Stetson on Sunday afternoon.