Notre Dame baseball advances to ACC semifinals with 5-3 victory over Florida State
“It ain’t over ’til it’s over” was the mantra of Thursday afternoon’s ACC Tournament game between fourth-seeded Notre Dame (34-13) and ninth-seeded Florida State (33-23), but the Irish pulled out the 5-3 victory at Truist Park in Charlotte, N.C.
Notre Dame had ace and sixth-year graduate student John Michael Bertrand (8-2, 2.39 ERA) on the mound, and he delivered. Bertrand threw a total of eight innings and 113 pitches, allowed five hits and one unearned run, and struck out eight batters.
Austin Temple came on for Bertrand in relief in the ninth inning and ran into some trouble. He allowed two runs and was pulled in favor of Alex Rao. Rao notched the final out for the Irish and his third save of the season.
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Offensively, Notre Dame got going in the third inning with a solo home run from shortstop Zack Prajzner, his fifth of the year. Left fielder Jack Zyska and right fielder Brooks Coetzee III added home runs of their own, both two-run shots. It was Zyska’s 10th home run of the season and Coetzee’s 11th. All five of Notre Dame’s runs were scored via home run.
Florida State starting pitcher Parker Messick (6-5, 3.36 ERA) is one of the nation’s best, and the three home runs he allowed were tied for the most he has given up in a single game in his career as a Seminole.
Eight of the nine Irish batters had a hit on the day, and Prajzner, Zyska, first baseman Carter Putz and catcher David LaManna each had a multi-hit outing. LaManna maintained the top batting average on the team with a .372 mark.
Notre Dame played Thursday’s game without third-team All-ACC outfielder Ryan Cole. He is dealing with a hamstring issue. Notre Dame head coach Link Jarrett said he could have played today, but the staff is being cautious with the graduate student.
Looking ahead to the weekend
As a result of the win on Thursday, Notre Dame advances to the ACC semifinals regardless of the outcome of Friday’s contest against Virginia (38-16). The Irish are the No. 4 seed in their pool, higher than No. 5 Virginia or No. 9 Florida State. In the event that they lose tomorrow, the entire pool will have a 1-1 record. Since Notre Dame is the highest seed, they advance if there is a tie. It will be Notre Dame’s first ACC semifinal appearance since joining the conference in 2014.
The starting pitchers for tomorrow have yet to be announced, but the game begins at 11 a.m. ET on ACCNX or regional sports networks.
Notre Dame will play the winner of Pool A on Saturday, which includes Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Clemson.
