NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The third-ranked Notre Dame baseball team is off on the road to close out the ACC regular season slate. The Irish are heading to Blacksburg to take on Virginia Tech in the final series of the season before the ACC Championship in Charlotte. The series kicks off on Thursday instead of the usual Friday start with the ACC Championships beginning next Tuesday, May 25.
| Starkville Super Regional | |
|---|---|
| Teams: | No. 7 Mississippi State (43-15) No. 10 Notre Dame (30-11) |
| When: | Saturday, June 12 | 2 p.m. ET Sunday, June 13 | 6 p.m. ET Sunday, June 14 | 7 p.m. ET |
| Where: | Starkville, MS | Dudy Noble Field |
| Watch: | ESPN (Saturday) ESPN2/ESPNU (Sunday) ESPN/ESPNU (Monday) |
| Live Scoring: | Saturday Live Stats Sunday Live Stats Monday Live Stats |
| Notes: | Notre Dame |
| Social: | @NDBaseball @NotreDameBaseball |
Hitting The Road
- The Irish are taking to the road for their final road trip of the regular season and final conference series of the year.
- The Irish are set to close out the ACC slate with a three-game series in Blacksburg against Virginia Tech.
- The Irish are making their first trip to Blacksburg since 2016 and hold a 14-9 all-time record against the Hokies.
- The series history is tied at 3-3 in games in Blacksburg but the Irish swept the three game series against the Hokies in 2016 and have won the last two series against the Hokies all-time.
- Virginia Tech enters the series with a 27-20 record and are 16-17 in ACC play. This past weekend, the Hokies dropped two of three games on the road against Duke.
Irish Clinch Atlantic Division Title and Tournament Top Seed
- Following losses by Florida State and Louisville on Saturday, the Irish clinched the ACC Atlantic Division championship for the first time in program history.
- It is the first regular season championship for the Irish since 2006 when they were in the BIG EAST.
- With the division title clinched, the Irish secured a top-two seed for the upcoming ACC Championship in Charlotte.
- Following last Sunday’s ACC action, the Irish clinched the top seed for the ACC Championship.
- Heading into the final week of the regular season, the Irish hold a conference best 22 wins and have won nine series this season, which also leads the ACC.
- The day prior to clinching the division championship, Notre Dame was selected as one of 20 potential hosts for the upcoming NCAA Baseball Championship. They were one of two ACC teams to crack the list as Pittsburgh was the other ACC representative.
- The final 16 hosts will be announced on Sunday, May 30 before the entire field gets announced the following day.
Irish Rally To Beat Valpo
- In their final non-conference game of the regular season, the Irish used another late rally to come away with a victory.
- Notre Dame faced a 3-0 deficit going into the eighth inning and only had one hit on the game.
- Things changed quickly for the Irish and two bases loaded hits changed the tide of the game.
- The first run of the inning came off the bat of Jared Miller as he singled to score Brooks Coetzee.
- Following a Nick Juaire single and a walk to Zack Prazjner, Spencer Myers doubled down the left field line to score two and tie the game at 3-3.
- Ryan Cole walked to load the bases again and the Carter Putz sent them all home after a triple down the line in right field.
- The Irish scored one more in the eighth, bringing the total to seven runs in the inning and gave them a 7-3 lead.
- The eighth inning has been the most productive inning this season for the Irish as they have scored 44 runs in the eighth this season.
- Aidan Tyrell got the final two outs for the Irish as they earned the 7-4 come from behind win.
- It was the third time this season the Irish have won a game after trailing heading into the eighth inning.
Road Less Traveled
- With the 13-9 series-clinching win over Boston College on April 24, the Irish won their sixth-consecutive ACC road series dating back to the 2020 season.
- It is the longest road series winning streak for the Irish since they joined the ACC back in 2014.
- The last time the Irish won six straight conference road series was back in the 2000-01 seasons when they won six straight conference road series over Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Seton Hall, West Virginia, Connecticut and Villanova.
- The Irish have been dubbed the road warriors as they have won nine of their last 11 ACC road series dating back to the 2019 season.
- In the shortened 2020 season the Irish finished 9-1 on the road, it was their most road wins since the 2015 season.
- During his two-year tenure as head coach for the Irish, Link Jarrett’s squad has a 23-5 record on the road.
Top-25, Here Come The Irish
- Following nine ACC series wins and five of those coming on the road, everyone is taking note of the Irish.
- The Irish are ranked as high as No. 3 in the Baseball America poll, the second time this season the Irish cracked the Top-3.
- The Irish are also ranked in the Top-5 in Perfect Game’s poll as they rise to the fifth spot this week.
- Notre Dame also ranks in the Top-10 in D1Baseball (#8), USA Today Coaches Poll (#9) and the NCBWA Poll (#9).
- A week after cracking two of the polls after the series win against Clemson, the Irish appeared in all six polls after the road sweep of Virginia.
- In the final week of the 2020 regular season, Notre Dame made their first appearance in the Top-25 when they were selected No. 24 by Collegiate Baseball News.
- It was the first time the Irish were ranked in the Top-25 since the 2015 season, the last time Notre Dame made an NCAA Regional.
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