SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish take home another victory over Valparaiso as they down the Beacons 7-3 at Frank Eck Stadium on Tuesday, April 18. The Irish advance to 19-15 on the season as they start their five game homestand this week in the win column.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Beacons would take the 1-0 lead out of the gate as Valpo homered to left field in the top of the first. It wouldn’t take long for the Irish to get their offense rolling as they responded with a four-run frame in the bottom of the first to take the lead 4-1. Five Irish players recorded singles in the frame as TJ Williams, Carter Putz, Jack Penney, Vinny Martinez, and DM Jefferson each recorded their first hits of the day.
Valparaiso would tack on two more runs in the top of the second to close the gap to one at 4-3.
The Irish would hold the Beacons scoreless in the top of the third as Spivey was relieved by Sammy Cooper with runners on first and second with zero outs. Cooper allowed one hit and with bases loaded, a pair of strikeouts and a pop up to the shortstop got him out of the jam.
The Irish extended their lead in the bottom of the third as Vinny Martinez sent it 422’ out to right field, recording his fifth home run of the season. His solo homer gave the Irish the two-run advantage at 5-3.
Both Beacons and Irish went three up, three down for a scoreless fourth. In the fifth frame, Prajzner and Penney both singled as Penney’s base hit would send home Prajzner from second base and give the Irish the 6-3 lead.
Zeros were hung in the sixth and seventh until Martinez crushed the ball to deep right field for his second home run of the day to make it a 7-3 ballgame.
Ryan Lynch would close for the Irish as he took the mound to start the ninth, recording three strikeouts across just one inning as he struck out the side to close the Irish win.
Cooper is now 3-1 after taking home the win, pitching 3.0 innings and recording three strikeouts. He was relieved by Carter Bosch, who also threw 3.0 innings and tallied three strikeouts. Spivey, Cooper, Bosch, and Lynch finished with 10 strikeouts as a staff in today’s win.
UP NEXT
The Irish are back in action at Frank Eck tomorrow for another midweek matchup as they host the Western Michigan Broncos at 6 PM on Wednesday, April 19.