Propelled by a Spencer Myers grand slam, No. 10 Notre Dame tops Michigan 14-5
The scoring went from a whisper to a bang.
On Tuesday night, No. 10 Notre Dame (21-5) welcomed rival Michigan (17-15) to Frank Eck Stadium for a mid-week contest. It was the Wolverines’ first trip to South Bend since 2013 and the first matchup between the two schools since 2017, although they did scrimmage last fall.
The Irish won 14-5 behind a wild second inning and a consistent stream of runs throughout the rest of the night.
In the second, Michigan starter Walker Cleveland walked four consecutive batters, bringing in Notre Dame’s first run of the day. That brought center fielder Spencer Myers to the plate, and he knocked a long grand slam behind the trees in left field on a blustery afternoon.
You could say he’s found his groove.
The graduate student was in the longest slump of his career earlier this season. He even lost his starting gig to sophomore TJ Williams. But in the last four games, Myers is batting .400 with seven RBIs.
“In the bigger moments, he seems to deliver,” Notre Dame head coach Link Jarrett said. “And we needed it. That was a strange opening to a game.”
The Wolverines loaded the bases twice in the first two innings, but they came away empty. Myers took advantage of the opportunity when he got his shot with three men on base.
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The scoring blitzes in the fourth and eighth innings were more of a team effort, and unsurprisingly, first baseman Carter Putz was in on the action. He had two hits on the day, one of which scored a run. Putz leads the team with 28 RBIs and is riding an 11-game hit streak.
“I’ve talked to the coaches the past couple of weeks and made some small mechanical changes,” Putz said after the game. “I’ve been meeting with them to come up with a game plan, and I’m looking at pitchers ahead of time to see their tendencies.”
In total, Notre Dame’s 10 hits on Tuesday came as a result of seven batters, as the Irish showed off the depth to which Jarrett has been referring all season. Six players notched RBIs.
The Irish have scored double-digit runs nine times this year. Games like this aren’t a blip on the radar. They are becoming fairly regular.
On the mound, Irish relief pitcher Jackson Dennies got the win, his first of the year. He pitched one and two-thirds innings — though they were clearly consequential — and allowed four hits and two earned runs, the first scoring he had given up all season.
“Jackson is going to help us this year,” Jarrett said. “You’ve seen it. He’s going to help us down the road.”
Looking at the bigger picture, that’s 10 mid-week wins for Jarrett in as many tries while he’s been at Notre Dame, and the Irish are off to their best start since 2004. Eighteen years ago they began the season 22-3 (.880). They are currently sitting at .808 with their 21 wins.
Notre Dame heads to Durham on Thursday for a three-game series with Duke. The Blue Devils are 13-9 on the year (3-12 ACC) and coming off a 10-6 loss to Campbell on Tuesday night.
