Irish Walk Off Canisius to Clinch Series Sweep

NOTRE DAME, Ind. —  In their final home game of the season, the Notre Dame baseball team went to extras to earn its first sweep of the season. The Irish defeated Canisius 3-2 in 11 innings after Jared Miller was at the plate and a walk-off balk scored Daniel Jung from third base.

How It Happened – Game 1

The Irish struck first in both games during the doubleheader yesterday and continued the trend on Sunday. Spencer Myers got a leadoff walk and Niko Kavadas immediately delivered. He ripped a double down the right field line and Myers came all the way around to score the first run.

Notre Dame increased its lead in the bottom of the third. Zack Prajzner led the inning off with a walk and moved to second after Kavadas also walked. Jung stepped to the plate and turned on a pitch through the right side for a single and Prajzner came home to score.

Brown was rolling since the first inning when he set the Griffs down in order on just 10 pitches. He retired Canisius in order in the second and fifth inning while allowing just two hits over the first five frames.

In the sixth inning, the Griffs were threatening with two runners on and two away. Brown got a big strikeout to end the inning and keep Canisius off the scoreboard.

Brown made quick work of the the Griffins in the seventh, setting them down in order on just six pitches. Jung and Myers made great diving plays for the first two outs and Brown got a strikeout to end the inning.

Canisius rallied in the eighth, bringing two runs around to tie the game. The leadoff batter got on base after the third strike got to the backstop. After a single and a hit-by-pitch, the bases were loaded with just one out. The Grifs singled through the left side and scored two runs after Morron beat Ryan Cole’s throw to the plate. Joe Boyle came on in relief and struck out the final two batters to get out of the jam and keep the game tied.

The game went to extras as neither team could score the go-ahead run in the ninth. The game stayed level until the 11th inning when the Irish got a rally started.

Jung reached base with a one-out single through the right side for his third hit of the game. After a fly out to center, David LaManna single to left field and the Irish had runners on first and second with two outs. A wild pitched moved both runners to scoring position and then Jung came home to score on a walk off balk to end the game and clinch the sweep.

Game Notes

• Joe Boyle earned the win after a career high 3.2 innings pitched in relief of Brown.
• He did not allow a hit and struck out a career-high seven over the 3.2 innings.
• Cameron Brown continued the strong pitching performance on the weekend as he earned a quality start after pitching 7.2 innings and allowed just two runs.
• It was the fifth start this season Brown has pitched six innings or more and third in his last four games.
• All three starters pitched at least seven innings in a series for the third time this season (at Clemson 3/15-17, at Pitt 4/20-21).
• Daniel Jung led the Irish at the plate with three hits and scored the game winning run in extras. It is his fifth game this season he has had three hits or more.
• The Irish earned their first series sweep of the season and the first sweep since April 7-9, 2017 against Georgia Tech.

Up Next

The Irish will take their three-game winning streak on the road for the final week of the regular season. The Irish will have a midweek matchup against Northwestern on Tuesday before the final ACC series at Boston College starting on Thursday.

For a behind-the-scenes look at the Irish baseball program, follow @NDBaseball on Twitter and @NotreDameBaseball on Instagram.