ATLANTA, Georgia – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-5) fell in a tough loss to Georgia Tech (12-2) on Friday, March 10 to open up ACC play in the 2023 season. While the Irish had a strong fifth inning to take the lead 4-3, the bottom of the seventh inning would lift the Yellow Jackets to the 7-4 victory in game one at Russ Chandler Stadium.
HOW IT HAPPENED
While the Irish struggled to get runs on the board in the first few innings, Danny Neri and Nick Juaire would look to get the bats going for Notre Dame. A single from Neri in the first and a single from Juaire in the second would be the only two hits on the day for the Irish until the fifth inning offense was sparked and caught fire.
Trailing 2-0 to start the fifth, the Irish were starting to put the pieces together to get the offense going. DM Jefferson started the inning with what would be one of five singles in the inning. While TJ Williams was eager to get the bat going, his strikeout would be followed with a walk from Jack Penney and runners would be on first and second for Notre Dame.
Zack Prajzner stepped up to the plate and connected for his first hit of the day as he singled through the left side and scored Jefferson to put the first run on the board for Notre Dame. Trailing 2-1 with two outs in the inning after a strikeout for Neri, Brooks Coetzee was next in the order. Coetzee singled to center field to score Penney and advance Prajzner to second and the Irish had a tied ball game on their hands with Carter Putz up to bat.
Following the trend of the inning, he too would record an RBI single to score Prajzner and advance Coetzee to take the first lead of the game at 3-2. The Yellow Jackets responded with a pitching change on the mound, but Juaire was ready to go and looking for his second hit of the day. Juaire would record the final hit of the inning as he singled to center field and scored Coetzee.
The Irish led 4-2 up until the bottom of the sixth, where Georgia Tech was able to tack on another run to close the gap to one at 4-3. However, a strong offensive outing that included a home run, a double, and a single from the Yellow Jackets, gave them the 7-4 edge over Notre Dame heading into the top of the eighth to take home the eventual win after nine.
Blake Hely started on the mound for the Irish, pitching 2.1 innings and giving up four hits and two runs. Jack Findlay relieved Hely, coming in with one out in the third. Findlay finished with four strikeouts across 3.2 innings, which included three straight strikeouts from the lefty to close the fifth. Matt Bedford took the bump to start the bottom of the seventh, pitching just one inning and giving up three hits and four runs. The graduate transfer from Stanford, Justin Moore, would close the ballgame and pitch one inning, giving up no hits and no runs.
UP NEXT
The Irish are back at Russ Chandler Stadium tomorrow for a doubleheader against the Yellow Jackets with game two of the series starting at 2:00 PM. Due to Sunday’s weather, game three of the series will take place tomorrow, March 11, following 45 minutes after the 2 o’clock has concluded. Tickets for Sunday’s game will be honored for the second game on Saturday.