How No. 16 Notre Dame baseball swept No. 5 Florida State on the road
Notre Dame didn’t need to sweep Florida State. More than anything, it just needed to show it can hang with a top-five team in the country in any type of ballgame.
The Fighting Irish ended up accomplishing both.
Wins of three different varieties propelled head coach Link Jarrett‘s team to its most impressive weekend of the season given the circumstances, the environment and the opposition. No. 16 Notre Dame (15-5, 5-4 ACC) beat No. 5 Florida State (16-11, 6-6) In Tallahassee, Fla., 2-0 Friday, 5-4 Saturday and 9-7 Sunday to vault up the ACC standings and get back to playing elite baseball.
Friday’s game was pitching perfection. Sixth-year senior John Michael Bertrand struck out a career-high 12 batters. The Irish bullpen, a serious cause of concern in the a four-game ACC losing streak going into FSU series, backed him up with 4 and 1/3 scoreless innings. All Notre Dame needed was one big swing, and senior left fielder Ryan Cole provided it with a two-run homer in the top of the 12th.
Notre Dame squandered a 2-1 lead Saturday by allowing three runs to the Seminoles in the seventh. Suddenly, the Irish had six outs to secure two runs. At that point, they only had three hits all game, too. But they still went the extra mile and scored three to take a late lead. Senior first baseman Carter Putz brought one home on a double and an error in the eighth. Senior second baseman Jared Miller put two across the plate with a two-out RBI single in the ninth.
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Unlike the previous two days, Notre Dame didn’t necessarily need a hero at the plate Sunday. Cole smashed a three-run homer in the first. Putz put one over the fence for two more runs in the third. Notre Dame played with a lead for most of the day despite needing to go to the bullpen after just one out from starter Austin Temple. Former starter Aidan Tyrell came out of the bullpen and did not allow an earned run in 4 and 2/3 innings.
The Irish ended up allowing seven runs, but that wasn’t so bad with their own offense showing power at the plate. It was the third game of the series, too, and Temple’s command issues made Jarrett rely on the pen to secure the final 26 outs. As soon as that became reality, the scoreboard didn’t matter as long as it showed Notre Dame with more runs. This wasn’t going to be a game like Friday’s. Rather, the antithesis of it.
And that’s why this weekend proved profound for Notre Dame. The Irish showed they can win in many fashions. Give the ball to your ace and let him deal? Check. Come up clutch in late innings? Check. Get out ahead and coast to the finish line with a mix of good and bad bullpen appearances? Check. All three of those types games occur in baseball all the time. Notre Dame emerged victorious in all of them in one weekend against a top-tier opponent.
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There were individual performances that should have Jarrett optimistic for the immediate future, too. Bertrand, of course. Cole and Putz at the plate. Will Mercer‘s ultra-important scoreless three innings in relief in Saturday’s win. Jack Brannigan shedding his demons on the bump and recording the final five outs in Sunday’s triumph. Tyrell returning to form, responding to Jarrett pulling him from the weekend rotation. Freshman pitcher Roman Kimball being trusted in big spots.
When the Irish ascended to No. 1 in the country in multiple polls a few weeks back, this is what voters had in mind — not a sweep at Louisville and a loss to Virginia Tech at home.
It’s one thing to put it all together in one weekend, though, and another to do it over and over again. It’s only early April. This team has aspirations of playing in late June. To make it there, it has to keep performing like it did in Tallahassee.
