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SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame baseball team shouldered a 9-5 setback against Georgia Tech on Saturday afternoon.
The Irish defense forced Georgia Tech into stranding a pair of runners in the top of the first. The Yellow Jackets used six hits to plate five runs in the top of the second inning, but Notre Dame sat down Georgia Tech in order in the top of the third to keep the score at 5-0.
The bottom half of the third saw the Irish get on the scoreboard. Brady Gumpf reached on an error, and Jared Zimbardo flared a single into right field to get a pair on base with one out. Bino Watters drew a walk to load the bases, and Parker Brzustewicz drove in Gumpf and Zimbardo with a shot just inside first base to make it a 5-2 score. With Brzustewicz on first and Watters on third, Estevan Moreno had an infield single to drive in Watters for a 5-3 game through three.
Georgia Tech plated two runs in the top of the fifth and added two in the top of the sixth to push the score to 9-3. The Irish continued to push for a comeback in the back half of the game. Estevan Moreno blasted a lead-off home run in the bottom of the eighth.
Down to their final at-bats, the Irish put the pressure on the Yellow Jackets. Brady Gumpf hit a one-out single through the left side of the infield, and Jared Zimbardo was hit by a pitch to put a pair of runners on base. Gumpf came in to score on a throwing error, but Georgia Tech closed out the game with a pair of outs late for the 9-5 final.
Jackson Dennies went 4.2 and had a strikeout on the mound for the Irish. Ricky Reeth added a strikeout over 3.1 innings of work, and Dylan Heine struck out a pair in a shutout inning of work on the bump.
Estevan Moreno went 2-for-4 with a home run – the 25th of his career – while adding two RBI and a run. Jared Zimbardo added a 2-for-4 effort at the dish with a run, and Parker Brzustewicz drove in a pair on a hit. Brady Gumpf posted a hit and scored twice, and Bino Watters tallied a hit and scored a run. Davis Johnson also collected a hit for the Irish.
Notre Dame (12-8, 1-7 ACC) take on Georgia Tech for the series finale on Sunday. The game time has been moved up to 11:00 a.m. The postgame Run the Bases opportunity will depend on weather. Admission is free for all home regular season Notre Dame baseball contests.