RADFORD, Va. – Notre Dame (10-5) earned its tenth win Tuesday with a 10-3 victory at Radford (5-9). OF Tito Flores led the Irish with three hits, while five Irish batters in total posted multi-hit games (IF Connor Hincks, Flores, INF Simon Baumgardt, INF Estevan Moreno and OF T.J. Williams).
Irish pitchers made a statement on the mound, not allowing a walk until the eighth inning, and only allowing one for the whole game. RHP Jack Radel (2-0) earned the win in his first-career start, going three full innings with four strikeouts and one hit allowed, while RHP Ricky Reeth and RHP Caden Spivey each went three full innings, Reeth adding one strikeout and Spivey posting three.
Notre Dame retired 13 batters in a row, beginning with the fourth batter in the first inning and extending to the last batter in the fifth.
Hincks continued his multi-hit streak to three games, Tuesday notching two extra-base hits (double and triple).
C Tony Lindwedel posted his first RBI and hit of the season. OF Nathan Manning saw his first game action in an Irish uniform, while INF Drayk Bowen noted his first-career at-bat.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams went scoreless in the first, as Radel posted a strikeout. Flores led off the second inning with a single, and Baumgardt forced a Radford error to keep both safe on base. OF Brady Gumpf hit into a fielder’s choice but earned an RBI, as Baumgardt was tagged out and Flores got home to put the Irish on the board. After a Moreno single and an out, Notre Dame added another run on a Williams single, scoring Gumpf. Radel added two strikeouts in the bottom of the second to preserve the 2-0 lead.
Both sides went three up, three down in the third. Baumgardt led off the fourth with a double, reaching third on a Gumpf flyout. Moreno sent a sac fly to score Baumgardt before the Irish were sent to the field up 3-0. Reeth entered to pitch for the Irish, and two groundouts and a flyout kept Radford off the board.
The fifth saw both teams go scoreless. Hincks led off the sixth with a triple, scoring on a Flores RBI single and sending the Irish to the bottom of the inning up 4-0. Radford responded in the sixth with a double and a single, scoring a run on a sac fly to get on the board.
Notre Dame broke it open in the seventh. Moreno led off with a single and stole second. Lindwedel singled for his first hit and RBI of the season as Moreno sped home. Williams singled, pushing Lindwedel to second. Penney hit into a fielder’s choice which tagged Williams out, as Lindwedel reached third. Penney stole second, and on a wild pitch, Penney took third and Lindwedel scored. After a strikeout, Hincks doubled, his second extra-base hit of the game, to score Penney. Flores added a single, pushing Hincks to third, and reached second. A Baumgardt double scored both runners. Gumpf, Notre Dame’s ninth batter of the inning, put a single in left field to score Baumgardt. The Irish went to the bottom of the inning with six runs scored in the seventh, up 10-1.
Spivey entered to pitch the seventh and struck out all three batters. Notre Dame went down in order in the eighth, and Radford had success in the bottom of the inning. A leadoff HBP and walk put two runners on base, and both scored on the following double. Spivey added another strikeout before the inning ended at 10-3.
Bowen, INF Josh Hahn and Flores went up for the Irish in the ninth and were retired in order. Radford led off its half with a double, but the Irish produced outs on the three following batters to end the game with Notre Dame’s 10th win of the season.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame and Radford will return to Sherman Carter Memorial Stadium Wednesday at 4 p.m. for the second of two games. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.