No. 8 Notre Dame took advantage of four Pitt first-inning errors to take a 5-0 lead, and John Michael Bertrand and two relievers made it stand up in an 8-3 home victory Friday night in the first game of a three-game ACC baseball series.
Brooks Coetzee cracked a two-run homer in the fourth, collected three hits overall and scored two runs for the Irish (30-10, 14-8 ACC). Carter Putz and Jack Brannigan added two hits each.
Bertrand (7-1) allowed six hits and two runs over seven innings to get the win. He didn’t walk anyone and struck out nine. His ERA is an ACC-best 2.37.
The Irish have just six games left in the regular season, and all five of the ACC games in particular carry critical postseason implications. After the series with Pitt (26-21, 12-12), the Irish host Northwestern on Tuesday, then finish with three road games at No. 6 Miami next weekend.
As of Wednesday, both Baseball America and DIBaseball projected Notre Dame as the 10th overall seed in the 64-team NCAA Baseball Tournament field, which means the Irish would host a regional for the second straight year.
Baseball America has the Irish playing Texas State, Iowa and Ball State in the four-team regional. DI Baseball projects Oklahoma, UCLA and Evansville in the South Bend Regional field.
To potentially host a Super Regional when the field is reduced to 16 teams, Notre Dame would need to be seeded eighth overall or higher.
The Irish are also trying to improve their seeding in the upcoming ACC Baseball Tournament. If the season had ended Friday night, Notre Dame would have been the third seed. But the top seven teams are tightly packed, and the Irish potentially could still end as the top seed.
The teams lower in the standings, including Pitt, have plenty of motivation as well. The Panthers are listed as one of the first four teams out of the NCAA tourney, on the wrong side of the bubble.
DIBaseball projects 10 ACC teams into the 64-team NCAA field, with five hosting regionals (Louisville, Miami, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame and Virginia). Baseball America has nine ACC teams on the right side of the bubble and with the same five host teams.
Game 2 of ND’s series with Pitt is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET (ACC Network streaming). Admission at Frank Eck Stadium is free.
BOX SCORE
Brooks Coetzee cracked a two-run homer in the fourth, collected three hits overall and scored two runs for the Irish (30-10, 14-8 ACC). Carter Putz and Jack Brannigan added two hits each.
Bertrand (7-1) allowed six hits and two runs over seven innings to get the win. He didn’t walk anyone and struck out nine. His ERA is an ACC-best 2.37.
The Irish have just six games left in the regular season, and all five of the ACC games in particular carry critical postseason implications. After the series with Pitt (26-21, 12-12), the Irish host Northwestern on Tuesday, then finish with three road games at No. 6 Miami next weekend.
As of Wednesday, both Baseball America and DIBaseball projected Notre Dame as the 10th overall seed in the 64-team NCAA Baseball Tournament field, which means the Irish would host a regional for the second straight year.
Baseball America has the Irish playing Texas State, Iowa and Ball State in the four-team regional. DI Baseball projects Oklahoma, UCLA and Evansville in the South Bend Regional field.
To potentially host a Super Regional when the field is reduced to 16 teams, Notre Dame would need to be seeded eighth overall or higher.
The Irish are also trying to improve their seeding in the upcoming ACC Baseball Tournament. If the season had ended Friday night, Notre Dame would have been the third seed. But the top seven teams are tightly packed, and the Irish potentially could still end as the top seed.
The teams lower in the standings, including Pitt, have plenty of motivation as well. The Panthers are listed as one of the first four teams out of the NCAA tourney, on the wrong side of the bubble.
DIBaseball projects 10 ACC teams into the 64-team NCAA field, with five hosting regionals (Louisville, Miami, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame and Virginia). Baseball America has nine ACC teams on the right side of the bubble and with the same five host teams.
Game 2 of ND’s series with Pitt is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET (ACC Network streaming). Admission at Frank Eck Stadium is free.
BOX SCORE
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