SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame baseball team closed out the ACC series sweep of visiting Stanford with an 18-13 win on Sunday afternoon at Frank Eck Stadium.
Ty Uber started the game off with a strikeout and retired the side in order as he squared off against his former team. The Cardinal put the first two men on base in the top of the second, but Uber got back-to-back strikeouts before Drew Berkland pulled in a fly ball in left-center to end the threat.
Dylan Passo drew a walk in the bottom of the second, and Jayce Lee took advantage of the gusting winds with a double to center field to get the Irish on the scoreboard first.
Uber forced Stanford into stranding a runner on second base by inducing a weak grounder to end the top of the third.
Drew Berkland led off the bottom of the inning with a single and stole second to quickly get into scoring position. A grounder the other way moved Berkland to third. Mark Quatrani then drove a two-run home run to dead center field for a 3-0 Irish lead.
The Cardinal got on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth with a run to make it a 3-1 game. Stanford then plated four in the top of the fifth to go ahead 5-3.
The Irish came back with a run in the bottom of the fifth. Brandon Logan beat out an infield single and moved up to second on a wild pitch. Bino Watters then drove in Brandon Logan with a triple off of the left field wall.
Stanford responded with a run in the top of the sixth, but the Irish countered with their own offensive spurt. Jayce Lee led off the bottom of the inning with a no-doubt home run to left field, and Andrew Graham followed suit with his first homer in an Irish uniform to knot the game up at 6-6. Mason Barth, Brandon Logan and Drew Berkland all drew walks, and Bino Watters drilled the first pitch of his at-bat up the middle to drive in a pair for an 8-6 Notre Dame advantage. Mark Quatrani laced a single to the outfield to drive in Berkland as the Irish went ahead 9-6. Jayce Lee then hit his second home run of the inning with a three-run shot to left-center for a 12-6 lead.
Stanford posted two runs in the top of the seventh to make it a four-run game at 12-8.
Mason Barth was hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the seventh, and Jamie Zee went the other way with a single to put runners at the corners. A fielder’s choice by Brandon Logan drove in Barth for a 13-8 Irish lead. Logan stole second, and a double to right field by Drew Berkland put the Irish ahead 14-8. Bino Watters dropped a single into center field, and Berkland scored easily on the play for a 15-8 lead.
The Cardinal scored a run in the top of the eighth, but the Irish posted three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Andrew Graham hit a single before Noah Coy came in to run. Mason Barth drew a walk, and Drew Berkland hit the fifth home run of the game for the Irish to give Notre Dame the 18-9 advantage.
Stanford plated four runs in the top of the ninth before the Irish closed out the 18-13 win.
Jayce Lee went 3-for-5 with two home runs, a double, five RBI and two runs scored in the win. Drew Berkland was 3-for-4 at the dish with a home run, a double, four RBI and four runs. Mark Quatrani added a 3-for-5 showing at the dish with a home run, three RBI and two runs. Andrew Graham went 3-for-5 with his first home run in an Irish uniform. Bino Watters was 3-for-5 with a triple, four RBI and a run. Brandon Logan had a hit, drove in a run and scored three times. Mason Barth added three runs, Noah Coy scored once and Dylan Passo scored a run in the win.
Ty Uber went 3.1 on the mound with the start and struck out three. Caden Crowell picked up the win after going 3.0 with a strikeout. Eli Thurmond earned the save after going 2.2 innings of work with two strikeouts.
The Irish (24-20, 11-16 ACC) have a break for finals week and are set to host Oakland for a three-game series at Frank Eck Stadium starting Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET.