Notre Dame baseball to play Northwestern at Wrigley Field
It’s been an up-and-down season for Shawn Stiffler in his first year as the Notre Dame baseball coach. His Fighting Irish are 18-15 overall and 8-10 in the ACC Standings. They’re coming off a series loss at Clemson (22-15, 6-9).
Monday brought uplifting news to wash away the taste of dropping two of three to the Tigers, though.
Notre Dame is now slated to play Northwestern at historic Wrigley Field at 5 p.m. CT (B1G+) on May 16, the university announced yesterday. It will be the first time the Irish have ever played at the longtime home of the Chicago Cubs. Wrigley Field has been in operation since 1914. It is the second-oldest ballpark in the MLB behind the Boston Red Sox’s famed Fenway Park (1912).
Notre Dame beat Northwestern 12-0 in South Bend, Ind., on April 4. Six different Irish pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts. Nine different Irish players recorded at least one hit. Third baseman Jack Penney went 3-for-5 with a two-run home run to put the Irish up 10-0 in the seventh inning.
Notre Dame hosts Valparaiso at 4 p.m. today. The Irish host Western Michigan at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Then they have a three-game series at Frank Eck Stadium in South Bend against No. 8 Virginia (31-6, 12-6) starting Friday at 6 p.m.
Notre Dame currently slots in at No. 51 in the RPI, a key determinant to which teams will make the NCAA Tournament field in June. With several automatic bids up for grabs in conference tournaments, that’s too low of a ranking for the Irish to get into the postseason via an at-large selection. The best way to boost the metric is to win series against ranked teams like UVA.
Here’s a look at the top performers for the Irish in major statistical categories through 33 games.
BATTING AVERAGE
First baseman Carter Putz (.279)
Shortstop Zack Prajzner (.275)
Catcher/outfielder Nick Juaire (.267)
HITS
Shortstop Zack Prajzner (36)
First baseman Carter Putz (34)
Third baseman Jack Penney (29)
HOME RUNS
Third baseman Jack Penney (7)
First baseman Carter Putz (5)
Shortstop Zack Prajzner, catcher Danny Neri, Outfielder TJ Williams, catcher Vinny Martinez (4)
RUNS BATTED IN
First baseman Carter Putz (23)
Third baseman Jack Penney (20)
Catcher Vinny Martinez (17)
EARNED RUN AVERAGE (more than 1.0 inning pitched)
Caden Spivey (1.88)
Aidan Tyrell (1.98)
Justin Moore (2.57)
Jackson Dennies (2.80)
Jack Findlay (3.79)
STRIKEOUTS
Jack Findlay (54)
Jackson Dennies (38)
Blake Hely (37)
Aidan Tyrell (30)
Radek Birkholz (22)
