April 21, 2018
By Megan Golden
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — In front of a packed crowd at Frank Eck Stadium, the University of Notre Dame baseball team walked off against Virginia Tech with an 8-7 come-from-behind win on Saturday afternoon.
Notre Dame (16-23, 7-13) received one of Scott Tully‘s best starts in an Irish uniform. The southpaw held Virginia Tech (17-22, 7-13) to two runs through the first eight innings before running into trouble and allowing three runs with one out in the ninth inning.
Entering the game with an unblemished (2-0) record in extra innings, Notre Dame once again rallied late, this time courtesy of a two-run single from Eric Gilgenbach in the 12th inning to complete the come-from-behind victory.
The win moves Notre Dame into a tie with Virginia Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings.
How It Happened
Cole Daily led off the bottom of the first with a walk and advanced to third on a long single into the gap in right center from Jake Johnson. Daily came around to score on a double play ball by Nick Podkul, putting the Irish up, 1-0.
Sam Fragale hustled for a bunt single to lead off the second. Irish starter Scott Tully then yielded back-to-back one-out singles, the latter of which drove in Fragale and evened the score, 1-1.
The Hokies took a 2-1 lead in the fourth, when Luke Horanski hit a solo homer over the fence in right field.
Matt Vierling hustled for an infield single to short to lead off the bottom half of the frame. With one out, Alex Kerschner tripled home Vierling for his second three-bagger of the weekend to tie the game at 2-2.
In the fifth inning, Daily reached third on an error by the centerfielder with one out. Jake Johnson was hit by a pitch in the next at-bat. Podkul again hit into a groundout, allowing Daily to score and give the Irish a 3-2 lead.
Notre Dame was back at it in the sixth, when Niko Kavadas, Daniel Jung and Eric Gilgenbach each singled to load the bases with one out. Bryce Gray came up and hit a sacrifice fly on the first pitch, driving in Kavadas for an insurance run and a 4-2 lead. Daily added a double the other way that drove in Kavadas to make it 5-2 in favor of the Irish.
In the top of the ninth, Tully allowed three straight hits, including a two-run single from Michael Fernandez that cut the Irish lead to 5-4. Andrew Belcik entered in relief of Tully and allowed two additional hits and a sacrifice fly to tie the game, 5-5.
Jack Owens walked to lead off the 12th inning, and he advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Tommy Vail then hit Horanski and walked Sam Fragale to load the bases. Vail then induced a ground ball that was mishandled by Daily, allowing two runs to score to give the Hokies a 7-5 lead.
Notre Dame responded in the bottom of the 12th, when Johnson walked and Podkul singled to put runners at the corners with nobody out. Jared Miller drove in Johnson with a fielder’s choice and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Daniel Jung was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Eric Gilgenbach. Gilgenbach, who is no stranger to bases-loaded situations this year, delivered a two-run single to left center to lift the Irish to an 8-7 win over Virginia Tech.
Stat of the Game
With the win in the 12th inning, the Irish move to 3-0 in extra innings this season.
Notes
- Notre Dame moves to 13-9 in the all-time series against Virginia Tech, going 6-4 at home.
- Notre Dame is 6-7 at Frank Eck Stadium in 2018.
- The walk-off win was Notre Dame’s fourth of the season and second courtesy of Gilgenbach. On March 3, Gilgenbach drew a bases-loaded walk to win the game.
- Starter Scott Tully worked a career-high 8.1 innings with five strikeouts.
- Alex Kerschner‘s RBI-triple in the fourth inning gives him an ACC-leading four triples in 2018.
- Jake Johnson owns a 12-game on-base streak during which he is batting .372 (16-43) with 10 walks, five runs scored and five RBI.
- Eric Gilgenbach has collected six multi-hit games in the month of April (13 games). During that span, the outfielder is batting .348 (16-for-46).
- Notre Dame recorded a season-high attendance of 1,002.
Up Next
Notre Dame and Virginia Tech conclude the three-game series at 1:05 p.m. ET on Sunday at Frank Eck Stadium. The game will be streamed on ACC Network Extra and aired on 103.1 FM (South Bend)/WatchND.
For a behind-the-scenes look at the Irish baseball program, follow @NDBaseball on Twitter and @NotreDameBaseball on Instagram. For tickets to an Irish baseball game, click here.
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Megan Golden, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since August of 2016. In her role, she coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame baseball and women’s soccer programs. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Golden is a 2014 graduate of Saint Mary’s College and former Irish women’s basketball manager. Prior to arriving at Notre Dame, she worked in public relations with the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox.