Out east
The Notre Dame baseball team is out east this weekend to take on the Boston College Eagles in ACC play. The Irish are dead last in the conference, but still .500 on the season.
From the ND press release:
Irish Split Friday Doubleheader with Eagles
BRIGHTON, Mass. – The Notre Dame baseball team took the opener over Boston College by a 2-0 score before coming up short in a 6-5 final in game two of a conference doubleheader on Friday.
GAME ONE
The Irish threatened in the top of the second in the opener. Connor Hincks singled to right field, and Nick DeMarco added a single to left field. Back-to-back outs, however, cut the scoring chance short for Notre Dame in the second stanza. The bottom half of the inning saw the defense halt the Eagles after Boston College tallied a lead-off single. DeMarco tracked down a pop up in foul territory before Jared Zimbardo chased down a deep fly ball on the run in left field for the second out. The Eagles kept the inning alive with a two-out single, but DeMarco closed out the inning after scooping up a grounder and getting the force out at second.
Parker Brzustewicz led off the top of the fourth with a four-pitch walk, but the Irish were unable to capitalize on the lead-off runner. The bottom of the fourth saw Carson Tinney cut down a runner trying to steal second base as the game remained scoreless through four complete.
The Irish retired the side in order in the bottom of the fifth. DM Jefferson had a diving catch to rob a base hit from the Eagles while Estevan Moreno made routine work out of a pair of grounders as the game stood at 0-0 through five.
The top of the sixth had Carson Tinney start things off by getting hit by a pitch. Estevan Moreno legged out a bunt single, and Parker Brzustewicz used a sacrifice bunt to move the pair into scoring position. Connor Hincks drove a sacrifice fly to right-center field, which allowed Tinney to score and Moreno to move to third. A passed ball by the Eagles then put the Irish ahead 2-0 midway through the sixth. Jack Radel then needed just nine pitches to retire the side in order in the bottom half of the inning.
The Irish tried to add to the lead in the top of the seventh. Bino Watters laced a two-out single to center field, Carson Tinney added a single to center field, and Estevan Moreno was hit by a pitch to load the bases. The two-out rally, however, was stopped short as the game remained 2-0 in favor of Notre Dame.
The defensive side remixed a pair of efforts from earlier in the game. DM Jefferson made his second diving highlight catch in center field, and Carson Tinney shut the door on the inning with a perfect throw to second to cut down another runner trying to steal as the Irish maintained the 2-0 lead. Brady Gumpf started the bottom of the eighth with a running catch in right field, and back-to-back outs with a runner on kept the Eagles off the scoreboard.
Boston College made a late push in the opener and used a pair of singles to get two runners on base. Tobey McDonough, however, wrapped up the game and the save with a strikeout to give the Irish the 2-0 victory.
Jack Radel and Tobey McDonough earned the combined shutout effort on the hill for the Irish. Radel went 6.1 innings with a strikeout while scattering five singles on his way to the victory. McDonough earned his fifth save of the year after going 2.2 with three strikeouts.
Connor Hincks went 2-for-3 with an RBI sacrifice fly for the Irish. Bino Watters added a 2-for-4 effort at the dish while Carson Tinney and Estevan Moreno each had a hit and scored a run. Jared Zimbardo and Nick DeMarco each tallied a hit in the win.
GAME TWO
The Irish got on the scoreboard right away in the nightcap. Jared Zimbardo ripped a rocket of a single to lead off the game before stealing second base. Bino Watters drew a walk, and Carson Tinney battled his way to a full-count walk to load the bases. Davis Johnson added the third walk in as many plate appearances by the Irish to plate the first run of the game. Connor Hincks punched a one-out single to left field to drive in another run, and Estevan Moreno added a seeing-eye hit up the line for a double while plating two more for a 4-0 lead as the Eagles made a pitching change with just one out gone. Nick DeMarco used a sacrifice fly to left field to drive in Connor Hincks for a 5-0 lead. DM Jefferson drew a full-count walk as the Irish went all the way through the batting order. The scoring in the inning stopped there as Notre Dame jumped out to the five-run lead.
The Eagles plated a run in the bottom of the first on a one-out single to left field. Rory Fox then retired the side in order in the second. Fox got out of a jam in the third with two runners on base. He recorded the first out of the inning before a soft line drive turned into a double play with the Eagles’ baserunner going on the hit-and-run play. Fox had another three-up, three-down effort in the fourth as the Irish continued to lead 5-1.
The Irish put a runner on base in the fifth but left the pair on base to end the frame. The Eagles, meanwhile, pushed a run across in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 5-2 game.
DJ Helwig came on in relief in the bottom of the fifth and retired the side in order in the bottom of the sixth. The top of the seventh saw the Irish put two runners on base with no outs. Carson Tinney drew a walk, and Davis Johnson punched a single to right-center. The Eagles, however, recorded three consecutive outs to move the game ahead.
Boston College pulled even in the bottom of the seventh with three runs on a walk and a pair of hits. Ricky Reeth came up with a big tag at home plate after Carson Tinney tracked down a pitch that got away. The play on the field was called an out with Reeth’s tag getting the runner out trying to score on the play. After a review, the play stood as the game moved ahead to the eighth knotted up at 5-5.
Jayce Lee powered a pinch hit single up the middle in the top of the eighth, but back-to-back outs stopped the scoring chance short for Notre Dame in the inning. The Eagles used a one-out single followed by a double down the left field line to go ahead 6-5. Reeth picked off the runner at second moments later, and the right-hander induced a one-hop ground out to Parker Brzustewicz two batters later to end the inning.
Down to their final at-bats, the Irish were unable to put together the late-game rally in the 6-5 setback.
Rory Fox went 4.1 innings of work and struck out a pair in a no-decision effort. DJ Helwig went 2.0 with two strikeouts, and Ricky Reeth shouldered the late-game loss in 1.2 innings of relief.
Connor Hincks went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run, and Jared Zimbardo was 2-for-5 at the plate with a run. Estevan Moreno walked once and was 1-for-3 with a two-RBI double. Davis Johnson collected a hit, scored a run, and drove in a run for the Irish. Bino Watters tallied a hit and a run at the plate. Nick DeMarco added an RBI, and Jayce Lee posted a hit in game two.
The Irish (16-16, 4-13 ACC) are scheduled to take on Boston College for game three of the series on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. For any schedule changes or updates, please follow Notre Dame baseball on Instagram and X/Twitter.