“Hot” probably has become an understatement when it comes to Notre Dame catcher Vinny Martinez’s last 10 games in an Irish baseball uniform.
The Stanford grad transfer crushed a pitch from lefty Dominic Fritton for a homer run to right field, with Carter Putz aboard and one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, to break a 7-7 tie as the Irish opened a key ACC series with a 9-7 victory Thursday night at Eck Stadium.
Lefty Will Mercer set down the Wolfpack 1-2-3 in the ninth for his third save.
Martinez’s 10th home run capped a 3-for-5 night for him and perpetuates a 10-game ascent in which his season batting average has risen from .169 to .297. His numbers in that stretch: 19-for-36 (.528) with six home runs, 15 RBIs, 12 runs scored and seven walks.
He’s now tied for the team lead in homers and RBIs (32).
Fritton, with a 3-2 record and 2.55 ERA coming into the game, had been NC State’s most effective pitcher this season.
Notre Dame (26-17, 14-11 ACC) moves into sole possession of second place in the ACC Atlantic Division with five conference games left. If the season ended today, the Irish would be the fourth seed in the ACC Tournament, with the top four teams gaining a huge advantage in the tourney’s pool-play phase.
The Wolfpack (29-15, 8-13) were projected as one of the league’s 11 teams to make the NCAA Tournament field in DI Baseball’s latest bracketology. The Irish are in the field too, but much further away from the bubble than NC State.
Zach Prajzner joined in the offensive pyrotechnics with a 2-for-4 night and three RBIs. Putz had two doubles among his four at-bats.
Irish right fielder Brooks Coetzee got hit by a pitch twice Thursday night for the nation’s leading 27th and 28th times. The ACC record is 29 by Wake Forest’s Ryder Mathias (2005). The Notre Dame record is 31, set by Brett Lilley in 2008. Lilley is the NCAA’s career hit-by-pitch king with 109.
Scott Davis of Delaware State (2012) and Brian Harris of Vanderbilt (2010) share the NCAA single-season record with 37.
Sophomore righty Radek Birkholz (1-3) picked up his first win of the season with 3 ⅓ innings of effective relief. He gave up a solo home run in the seventh to Payton Green that tied the game at 7-7, as his only hit surrendered. He walked three and struck out two.
Game two is set for Saturday at 5 p.m. EDT, with the series finale set for Sunday at 2 p.m.
BOX SCORE
The Stanford grad transfer crushed a pitch from lefty Dominic Fritton for a homer run to right field, with Carter Putz aboard and one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, to break a 7-7 tie as the Irish opened a key ACC series with a 9-7 victory Thursday night at Eck Stadium.
Lefty Will Mercer set down the Wolfpack 1-2-3 in the ninth for his third save.
Martinez’s 10th home run capped a 3-for-5 night for him and perpetuates a 10-game ascent in which his season batting average has risen from .169 to .297. His numbers in that stretch: 19-for-36 (.528) with six home runs, 15 RBIs, 12 runs scored and seven walks.
He’s now tied for the team lead in homers and RBIs (32).
Fritton, with a 3-2 record and 2.55 ERA coming into the game, had been NC State’s most effective pitcher this season.
Notre Dame (26-17, 14-11 ACC) moves into sole possession of second place in the ACC Atlantic Division with five conference games left. If the season ended today, the Irish would be the fourth seed in the ACC Tournament, with the top four teams gaining a huge advantage in the tourney’s pool-play phase.
The Wolfpack (29-15, 8-13) were projected as one of the league’s 11 teams to make the NCAA Tournament field in DI Baseball’s latest bracketology. The Irish are in the field too, but much further away from the bubble than NC State.
Zach Prajzner joined in the offensive pyrotechnics with a 2-for-4 night and three RBIs. Putz had two doubles among his four at-bats.
Irish right fielder Brooks Coetzee got hit by a pitch twice Thursday night for the nation’s leading 27th and 28th times. The ACC record is 29 by Wake Forest’s Ryder Mathias (2005). The Notre Dame record is 31, set by Brett Lilley in 2008. Lilley is the NCAA’s career hit-by-pitch king with 109.
Scott Davis of Delaware State (2012) and Brian Harris of Vanderbilt (2010) share the NCAA single-season record with 37.
Sophomore righty Radek Birkholz (1-3) picked up his first win of the season with 3 ⅓ innings of effective relief. He gave up a solo home run in the seventh to Payton Green that tied the game at 7-7, as his only hit surrendered. He walked three and struck out two.
Game two is set for Saturday at 5 p.m. EDT, with the series finale set for Sunday at 2 p.m.
BOX SCORE
Last edited:
