May 19, 2018
By Michael Scholl
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — The University of Notre Dame baseball team led most the afternoon, but an eighth-inning rally propelled No. 25 Louisville past the Irish, 10-7, in the 2018 regular season finale.
The Irish (24-28, 12-18 ACC) took an early lead when Cole Daily hit a leadoff homer. Louisville (40-16, 18-12 ACC) responded with three in the third to tie it, but Notre Dame immediately put up a crooked number with four in the fourth to take a 7-3 lead. The Cardinals chipped away with two in the fifth and one in the seventh, before a three-run homer by Josh Stowers capped a four-run eighth to provide the final margin. Both teams now turn their attention to next week’s ACC Baseball Championship in Durham, North Carolina.
Daily was 2-for-4 with the homer and two runs scored. Niko Kavadas, Daniel Jung andDavid LaManna had two hits apiece, as well. LaManna and Nick Podkul each contributed two RBI.
How It Happened
Daily quickly put the Irish ahead, driving the fourth pitch of the game beyond the wall in left for his third homer of the season. The Irish kept the pressure on to add another, as Johnson walked and moved up to second and third on a pair of wild pitches. Kavadas then served a two-out single into right to make it 2-0.
The Irish pushed the lead to 3-0 when Podkul drove a 2-2 pitch off the light pole beyond the left field wall for his eighth round-tripper of the season.
The hosts tied things up in the third. It started with consecutive doubles from Justin Lavey and Tyler Fitzgerald, with the latter scoring the former. Jake Snider then laid down a bunt for a base hit, but a throwing error allowed Fitzgerald to score. After a flyout, Sheehan walked Logan Wyatt and was pulled for Belcik. Belcik gave up a bunt single to Josh Stowers, scoring Snider to tie the game. Belcik worked out of it, getting a flyout before a single loaded the bases, with a Pat Rumoro’s fielder’s choice ending the inning with the score 3-3.
Notre Dame played textbook baseball to retake the lead in the fourth. Kerschner drew a leadoff walk before Gilgenbach singled to put two men on. Jung executed a beautiful sacrifice bunt to move the runners into scoring position before LaManna sent a 1-2 pitch right back up the middle to score Kerschner and GIlgenbach. That chased starter Bobby Miller, but Daily followed with a double that caught chalk down the right-field line to put runners into scoring position again. With the Louisville infield pulled in, Johnson sent a single through the right side to score LaManna and make it 6-3. The Cardinals made another pitching change before Podkul served a sac fly into right to score Daily, putting Notre Dame ahead, 7-3.
Louisville cut the deficit in half in the fifth. Belcik issued a leadoff walk to Wyatt before Stowers sent a 2-1 pitch beyond the wall in left to make it 7-5. Belcik got a groundout before Mik Aoki went back to the pen and brought in Vail. The rookie southpaw set Campbell down swinging before walking Rumoro on an eight-pitch at-bat. Rumoro was then gunned down by LaManna attempting to advance on a pitch in the dirt, ending the Cardinal threat.
The Cardinals scratched into the lead again in the seventh. Vail retired the first two hitters before allowing a walk and single to put runners on the corners. Ethan Stringer pinch hit and delivered a single through the left side to score Stowers. After hitting a batter to load the bases, Martin got out of the jam by getting Lavey to fly out.
Louisville tied it an inning later. Fitzgerald and Snider hit consecutive singles to start the inning, then Mann hit a high pop fly to shallow right. It was caught by the Podkul and Fitzgerald beat the second baseman’s throw home. Aoki returned to his bullpen, calling on Kmet. Wyatt singled to right off the glove of a diving Podkul putting runners on the corners for Stowers, who deposited the first hit he saw on the berm beyond the left-field wall to make it 10-7.
Note Of The Game
- Daily’s leadoff homer was the first by an Irish player to start a game since April 21, 2017, when Nick Podkul went yard to start a game at No. 19 Virginia.
Up Next
The Irish await the conclusion of today’s conference games to know their opponents at the ACC Championship, which begins Tuesday, May 22. This year’s tournament will be held at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, North Carolina. The 12 teams will be split into four pools of three, with teams guaranteed two games against their pool. The winners of each pool (the highest seed advances in the event of ties) advance to winner-take-all semifinals for a berth in the May 27 title game. Check back to UND.com and follow @NDBaseball on Twitter for the latest on the Fighting Irish in the postseason.
— ND —