Game 1 Box Score (PDF) | Game 2 Box Score (PDF)
GREENVILLE, S.C. — The second-ranked Notre Dame baseball team swept both games of its doubleheader against Monmouth on Saturday at Fluor Field. The Irish (5-1) defeated the Hawks (4-3) 16-2 in game one and 9-0 in game two to improve to 3-0 on the weekend in Greenville.
In game one, the bats came alive once again for the Irish. They scored in each of the last five innings, including a game-high five runs in the seventh. Ryan Cole was 4-for-4 with four RBI and three runs, including his first career grand slam. Carter Putz also hit a two-run home run in the win. John Michael Bertrand had another strong start, tossing seven innings of work with a career-high 11 strikeouts.
In game two, it was a low-scoring affair until pulling away in the late innings. Austin Temple, Ryan McLinskey, Alex Rao and Jack Brannigan combined to shut out the Hawks for the first Irish shutout of the season. The staff combined for 15 strikeouts in game two, the most in a game this season. At the plate, Danny Neri and Zack Prajzner led the way with 3 RBI each.
How It Happened – Game 1
The Irish jumped out in the lead in the fourth inning after a lead-off walk to Jack Brannigan got the inning started. He advanced to third on a hit-in-run single from Brook Coetzee III and was in scoring position for Prajzner. Prajzner drove a fly ball to deep left field that easily scored Brannigan and gave the Irish a 1-0 lead after the first four innings.
The Irish added to their lead with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Cole got his third hit of the game and wound up in scoring position for Jared Miller. Miller roped a ball into right field for a single and Cole came home to score from second. Putz stepped in next and drove a ball over the Green Monster in left for a two-run homer, his first of the year, and the Irish held a 4-0 advantage.
The Irish broke the game open in the sixth after loading the bases with no outs. Cole stepped in already 3-for-3 on the day and he cleared the bases with a grand slam that landed out by the condos in left center field. It was Cole’s first career grand slam and the first Irish grand slam since Niko Kavadas against UConn on June 5, 2021. The Irish added another run via a wild pitch and held a 9-0 lead after six.
The Hawks got on the board with two runs in the seventh but couldn’t do any more damage at the plate.
Bertrand was on it from the get go against the Hawks, as he did not allow a hit until the fourth inning. He finished the outing with 7.0 innings pitched and allowed just one earned run while striking out a career-high 11 batters. It was the most strikeouts by an Irish pitcher since Cameron Junker struck out 11 against Canisius on May 11, 2019. Through two starts in 2022, Bertrand has allowed just one earned run in 13.0 innings of work.
The Irish added six more runs in the final two innings to cruise to a 16-2 win in the first game over the Hawks.
How It Happened – Game 2
The Irish struck first once again in the second game of the doubleheader. Brannigan and Putz were in scoring position as Prajzner stepped up to the plate. He hit a slow roller to second that he nearly beat out but both runs ended up scoring on the ground out to give the Irish the lead. After the first two frames, Notre Dame led 2-0.
Temple continued the good Irish starting pitching this weekend as he cruised through the first five innings. He kept Monmouth off the scoreboard and only allowed two hits in the five frames while recording five strikeouts.
McLinskey came on in relief in the sixth and kept the strong performance on the mound rolling. He struck out two in his first inning of work in the sixth. McLinskey struck out two more in the seventh before Rao came on to pitch with two outs in the seventh. With two runners on, Rao induced a ground ball to get out of the jam and end the inning.
The Irish added two runs in the seventh after some opportunistic hitting. With Brannigan on first base, TJ Williams tripled down the left field line to score Brannigan. The next batter was Neri and he grounded out to second but Williams scored on the play to give Notre Dame a 4-0 lead.
Notre Dame scored three more in the eighth courtesy of Putz and Prajzner. Putz got it started with a single to left field that scored Cole and Miller. Later in the inning, Prajzner singled to left to score Putz from third.
In the ninth, Brannigan moved over to the mound and struck out the side to close out the game.
Up Next
Due to impending inclement weather on Sunday, the weekend finale against Marist has been canceled. The Irish end the weekend 3-0 and will head back to campus before going on the road to Minneapolis next weekend to play a trio of Big 10 teams in the Cambria College Classic.
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