No. 13 Notre Dame baseball downs Purdue Fort Wayne 12-2 in mid-week contest
It had glimpses of everything Notre Dame head coach Link Jarrett has talked about all season if his team is going to make a deep postseason run: a solid bullpen outing with a peppering of runs throughout the game, slowly suffocating the opponent.
Coming off of a rough weekend in Durham, No. 13 Notre Dame baseball (23-8) notched a 12-2 victory over in-state foe Purdue Fort Wayne (10-24) on Wednesday night.
For the second straight game, Notre Dame played a bullpen game, and the bullpen did not disappoint. Jarrett has spent much of the season trying to find consistency from his relievers, and they showed they are capable of it with the outing.
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Junior Liam Simon got the start, his second of the season. After allowing a first-inning home run to No. 2 batter Jack Lang, the righty was lights out. He made it through four innings, allowing two hits and the aforementioned run. Along the way, he struck out eight batters, and 38 of his 54 pitches were strikes. Simon earned his first win of the year in the outing.
“We had seen flashes of (success), a hitter here and there,” Jarrett said of Simon’s pitching. “He strung (things) together today. The command of the fastball was above average, the shape and consistency of the slider. It had good velocity.”
Jarrett added Simon had been working with pitching coach Chuck Ristano this week, presumably contributing to his success on Wednesday.
“If he can continue to evolve, that’s a powerful, elite arm,” Jarrett added.
Freshman Jack Findlay took over for Simon in the fifth inning and put on a stunning performance of his own. He faced nine batters, sat all nine and struck out four. In total, Notre Dame struck out 17 batters.
On the offensive side, Jarrett has repeatedly characterized his lineup as deep and balanced. It was very clear, at least on Wednesday, that can be the case. Granted, the level of competition was not ACC-caliber, but it was an impressive showing from nearly every batter.
Four players — including three starters — had at least two RBIs. A total of six batters drove in runs and eight scored runs themselves. Both second baseman Ryan Cole and designated hitter Jack Zyska hit home runs.
Catcher David LaManna went 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles and a pair of RBIs, and Jarrett was particularly impressed with where the balls were falling.
“LaManna hammered a ball in the left field corner, one in the right field corner, one through the middle,” the head coach said while recapping the offensive performance. “It’s a really good sign when you’re hitting balls like that to all different parts of the field.”
Overall, while Jarrett wishes the Irish could have closed the door a bit earlier in the contest, he was very pleased with the outing. Now, Notre Dame needs to repeat it in conference play, something they have at times struggled to accomplish.
The Irish host Wake Forest (28-9, 10-8 ACC) this weekend at Frank Eck Stadium for a three-game series. If it’s anything like ACC play has been thus far, it’s going to be all or nothing. Game 1 starts at 5 p.m. ET on Friday and can be streamed on ACCNX.
