HOLLY SPRINGS, NC – The Fighting Irish advanced to 8-6 on the season as they took down Saint Joseph 10-9 on Wednesday, March 15 at Ting Stadium in Holly Springs, NC. Notre Dame is on a three-game winning streak after defeating Georgia Tech on Saturday and going 2-0 against the Hawks in the midweek matchup.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Freshman David Lally Jr. had his first career start, picking off the runner at second and following the play with a strikeout to close the top of the first.
While the Irish had two hits in the bottom of the first from Zack Prajzner and Brooks Coetzee, it was a scoreless first inning across the board for the Irish and the Hawks.
The Irish would put their first run on the board in bottom of the second as DM Jefferson would reach after a walk and proceed to steal second, putting himself in scoring position. Estevan Moreno singled up the middle in his first at bat of the day to send Jefferson home. Penney would follow with a base hit, but was left on base to close out the second as the Irish led 1-0.
The Hawks tied it up in the top of the third with a base hit and an RBI double. The Irish went three up and three down to finish the third, followed by another scoreless inning from both Notre Dame and Saint Joseph’s.
The Hawks took the lead 2-1 to start the fifth after doubling to left field and scoring on a sac fly to center field. The Irish responded with their best offensive production of the day, scoring four runs in the bottom of the fifth. After Coetzee was hit by the pitch and Juaire reached on a walk, TJ Williams doubled down the left field line to score Coetzee and advance Juaire to third.
Dani Neri stepped up to the plate and smashed a ball into deep right field for his third home run of the season as he scored Juaire and Williams to take the lead 5-2.
The Hawks homered to left center to score two more in the top of sixth and closed the gap to one 5-4. The bottom of the sixth started with a double down the left field line from Prajzner and was followed by Coetzee being hit by the pitch for the second time. Putz had a base hit to right field to make it bases loaded with Juaire up to bat. Juaire reached on a fielder’s choice, scoring Prajzner to make it a 6-4 ballgame.
The top of the seventh started with back-to-back walks, putting runners on first and second for the Hawks. Two base hits and one home run later, Saint Joseph’s five runs in the seventh gave them the 9-6 advantage heading into the eighth.
A ground out to shortstop and two flies to right field would close the top of the eighth with Penney, Prajzner, and Coetzee due up for Notre Dame to start the bottom of the inning. It didn’t take for the Irish to strike as Jack Penney launched it to right field for his third home run of the season to close the gap to 9-7. Coetzee reached after being hit by the pitch for the third time and was sent home on another homer from Putz as he too sent it to deep right field. After Putz’s two-run home run, the Irish tied it up at 9-9 heading into the ninth.
Sammy Cooper took the mound to relieve Ricky Reeth at the top of the inning. Second baseman Estevan Moreno made two big-time catches for the first two outs, before Prajzner was able to get the final out on a line drive to shortstop to close the top of the ninth.
Casey Kmet and Moreno were each hit by the pitch to put runners on first and second to start the bottom of the ninth. Penney followed with a sac bunt to advance Kmet and Moreno into scoring position on second and third. Prajzner was intentionally walked by the Hawks, making it bases loaded for Notre Dame. Coetzee stepped up to plate and inevitably was hit by the pitch for the fourth time in the game to score Kmet and take home the 10-9 walkoff win.
UP NEXT
The Irish are back in action on Friday as they resume conference play at Wake Forest for a three-game series before opening up at home at Frank Eck Stadium on Tuesday, March 21 against Valpo.