Carter Putz knocks in eight runs over the weekend as No. 13 Notre Dame sweeps Clemson
No. 13 Notre Dame (20-5, 8-4 ACC) notched its second straight ACC sweep this weekend, downing Clemson (19-12, 2-9 ACC) three times in as many tries. Sunday’s contest — which was attended by a season-high 883 people on a sunny afternoon with temperatures in the mid-50s — ended with a final score of 9-3.
BOX SCORE (Friday); BOX SCORE (Saturday); BOX SCORE (Sunday)
Here are three observations from the weekend:
Irish rotation strikes again
Dating back to the first inning of Tuesday’s matchup with Butler, the Notre Dame pitchers did not allow an earned run until the fourth inning of Sunday’s game — nearly 30 innings.
Sixth-year pitcher John Michael Bertrand (5-0) kicked off the weekend from the mound with a dazzling, near-complete game. He pitched 8.1 innings, allowing four hits, an unearned run and three walks. Bertrand struck out eight batters.
On Saturday, Austin Temple (3-0) got off to a bit of a shaky start, at least in terms of control over his pitches, but held the shutout together. Temple went 5.1 innings without allowing a run. He gave up four hits, stuck out nine and walked a batter.
Will Mercer got his first start of the season on Sunday, but the win went to Roman Kimball (3-0). Kimball allowed the only earned runs of the weekend; Clemson’s three came on solo homers, two of which were launched by Clemson power hitter Max Wagner. He has 10 home runs this season.
Putz stays reliable
Offensively, Saturday and Sunday were “The Carter Putz Show.” The star first baseman notched eight RBIs from his spot batting fourth, going 6-13 and scoring two runs on the weekend. He is now batting .380 on the year.
“He made some slight, little mechanical (changes) just to try to dial it in (a few weeks ago),” Irish head coach Link Jarrett said. “He’s a smart hitter. The game planning, what he’s trying to do when he goes up there, his vision and the ability to pick up the ball, that’s what makes him a hitter.”
Putz helped break Sunday’s game open in the fourth inning, as the Irish notched three doubles (Putz, Jack Zyska and Brooks Coetzee) and added four runs to break a 1-1 tie. They did not look back from there, and Jared Miller (2) and Ryan Cole (4) knocked in insurance home runs in the eighth inning.
Veteran center fielder Spencer Myers also had a nice weekend, going 5-10 with three RBIs. He started and batted first in place of a banged up TJ Williams.
Defense doesn’t falter
Notre Dame entered the weekend with the country’s top fielding percentage (.989), and they continue to show why they own that title.
“Our defense stood out to me today, the way our guys were running around catching those fly balls,” Jarrett said. “Zack Prajzner‘s out here, Coetzee’s running the balls down, (Jack) Brannigan is handling stuff at third base.”
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As a team, Notre Dame turned three double plays on the weekend, and perhaps more importantly to Jarrett, they didn’t try to force a few other opportunities to make them happen. When they didn’t see double play balls, they weren’t making errant throws in an effort to create the opportunity.
For its next contest, Notre Dame will host Michigan at Frank Eck Stadium on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. ET.
