Baseball roundup: Notre Dame in the rankings after sweep, Bertrand earns ACC honors for second straight week
There is no other way to put it: Notre Dame baseball is rolling.
The 20-5 Irish have won eight straight games and swept their last two ACC opponents in Florida State and Clemson. With matchups against Michigan and a three-game series at Duke this weekend, here is a look at where the Irish stand in the top college baseball polls.
Baseball America: No. 10 (previously 12)
The poll that had the Irish at No. 1 in the nation earlier this season has them back in the top 10. Baseball America touted Notre Dame’s pitching last weekend in its writeup, calling the performances from John Michael Bertrand on Friday and Austin Temple on Saturday dominant.
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The Louisville sweep earlier this season continues to look better and better; the Cardinals are ranked No. 9 by Baseball America. No. 2 Miami is still on Notre Dame’s schedule.
Coaches Poll: No. 9 (13)
The Irish have been ranked as high as No. 7 in the USA Today Coaches Poll this year, and they are approaching that mark once again. Unfortunately for them, both Florida State and NC State — two of the three ACC teams they’ve swept this year — fell out of the top 25 this week.
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper: No. 7 (15)
This was Notre Dame’s biggest jump of the week, as they moved up eight spots. Collegiate Baseball Newspaper listed the Irish as one of their “hot” teams last week.
D1Baseball.com: No. 10 (13)
This is the poll usually used by the NCAA, and Notre Dame is back in the top 10.
In addition to the four polls listed above, Notre Dame moved up to No. 3 in the RPI, behind top-ranked Tennessee and Dallas Baptist. The RPI is a top priority when determining NCAA Tournament seeding, and the Irish would love to host a series in South Bend. Right now, they seem in very good position to do so.
Notre Dame’s next game is at home against Michigan on Tuesday. The Wolverines are 17-14 on the season, 3-3 in Big Ten play, and are riding a three-game win streak after sweeping Cal State Fullerton last weekend. First pitch will be at 5:30 p.m. ET and can be streamed on ACCNX.
Bertrand named ACC Pitcher of the Week…again
For the second time in as many weeks, Bertrand has been named the ACC Pitcher of the Week.
The sixth-year pitcher earned his fifth win on Friday afternoon, a 4-1 victory over Clemson. He went 8.1 innings, allowed four hits and no earned runs, walked three and struck out eight. The graduate student threw 130 pitches.
Bertrand has not allowed an earned run in his last two starts, which total 16 innings. He ranks fourth in the conference in strikeouts after adding eight to his resume against Clemson. There are just two pitchers in the country who have pitched 50 or more innings and boast an ERA under 1.60. Bertrand is one of them, at 1.53.
Notre Dame head coach Link Jarrett likes Bertrand as Notre Dame’s Friday starter after moving him around a bit this season, so his next start will likely be Friday at Duke.
