Why College World Series berth would mean ‘everything’ to Notre Dame baseball coach Link Jarrett

Notre Dame baseball coach Link Jarrett knows what it feels like in Omaha, Neb., right around when the meteorological season officially switches from spring to summer. He’s experienced it several times.

Jarrett went to Omaha as a shortstop for the Florida State Seminoles in 1991, 1992 and 1994. A two-time All-ACC and All-American selection, Jarrett belonged. But he hasn’t been back. Not in over two decades of coaching, anyway. The only thing that’s purposefully placed him there since the ’90s was his son, J.T., making a run to the College World Series as a member of the NC State Wolfpack just last year.

With NC State missing the NCAA Tournament entirely this year, J.T. is along for his dad’s ride. He’ll be in Knoxville, Tenn., this weekend with a Notre Dame shirt on to watch his father’s Fighting Irish face the No. 1 team in the country in a highly-anticipated Super Regional. J.T.’s Wolfpack ousted the No. 1 Arkansas Razorbacks in the 2021 Fayetteville Super Regional.

It was a shocker. J.T. relished in it. It sent him to Omaha. Could the Jarretts really pull off back-to-back monumental upsets on the road, in opposite ends of the backyard of college baseball’s hotbed, against arguably the two best teams the sport has seen in as many seasons? If it happens, the answer to what it would mean to the elder Jarrett is one word.

“Everything.”

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Consider the recent context. Jarrett was in a similar situation just a year ago. He brought his regular season ACC Championship-winning Notre Dame team to the middle of the aforementioned proverbial backyard — Starkville, Miss. — to play Mississippi State in front of what wound up being a record-setting Super Regional crowd.

The Irish uncharacteristically committed four errors in Game 1 in a 9-8 loss. Notre Dame would have likely won with two, maybe even three, errors. Not four. Jarrett’s team reduced the number to one in Game 2 and won in a landslide, 9-1. In Game 3, the moment was too much for the visitors. Mississippi State won, 11-7, and ultimately won the national championship.

Notre Dame was right there with the best of the best.

“What I like about the makeup of the team is they seem to really engage with the details of the competition and trying to find that creative way to get over the hump and win,” Jarrett said.

A reenactment of the 2021 postseason isn’t out of the question for Notre Dame. If the Irish lose to Tennessee, the team with the best offense in the country, the Volunteers could easily go on to win the whole thing. They’re the odds-on favorite to at +150 according to DraftKings.

But Notre Dame could just as easily pull an NC State and shock the world. Only to the Irish, it wouldn’t be so shocking.

“I couldn’t tell you exactly what they see, but if I were them I’d be a little scared,” Notre Dame graduate senior left fielder Ryan Cole said. “I think we’re a very dangerous team.”

If the Vols are going to hang that quote on their bulletin board, then they might as well hang this, too: the programs with the two best winning percentages in college baseball since Jarrett arrived in South Bend in 2020 are Tennessee (.818) and Notre Dame (.741). No. 1 vs. No. 2.

This isn’t David vs. Goliath. Notre Dame belongs, just like Jarrett belonged in Omaha 30 years ago. He’s past due to get back there with a view from the dugout, not from the stands.

Knoxville Super Regional: Notre Dame (38-14) vs. No. 1 Tennessee (56-7)

When: Friday, 6 p.m. (ESPN2); Saturday, 2 p.m. (ESPN); Sunday (if necessary): TBD

Where: Lindsey Nelson Stadium (Knoxville, Tenn.)

Notes on Tennessee: The Vols have not lost a home series all season … They won the regular season and conference tournament in the SEC … Tennessee ranks No. 1 nationally in team ERA (2.38), home runs (150) and runs per game (9.4) … The Vols are trying to make it back to the College World Series in back-to-back seasons for the first time ever and the sixth time in program history.

Quotes on Tennessee: “I don’t know if we’re going to find a glaring weakness in their team. Obviously, they’re very complete in every phase. They’ve got good arms. If somebody were to criticize anything, they could probably say their bullpen hasn’t been as dominant as their starting pitching. But it doesn’t need to be.

“They’re really good and they have a variety. It’s a good pen. But once you get into it, there are moments were it looks like it’s the right thing to take you over the hump in that ballgame. And you just hope those presentations are available and you capitalize.” — Link Jarrett