SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame (13-8, 1-6 ACC) earned its first conference win in its first ACC game at home, grinding for a 6-2 victory over the visiting Miami Hurricanes (12-9, 4-3 ACC).
RHP Matt Bedford started on the mound for the Irish and delivered a career performance, posting seven strikeouts and staying on the mound for 4.1 innings, both career-high marks. Seven strikeouts ties Notre Dame’s season high by a single player (RHP Bennett Flynn also posted seven at Tennessee Tech – March 1). RHP Caden Spivey (1-0) earned the win for Notre Dame, pitching an effective 2.2 innings of relief with two strikeouts and no runs allowed, while Flynn closed it out for the Irish, posting three strikeouts over two innings.
Irish batters put together a true collective effort to secure the win with OF T.J. Williams, INF Jack Penney and C Joey Spence all posting multi-hit games, as Williams also earned two RBI. Notre Dame hit triples in three-consecutive innings, courtesy of Spence, Penney and OF David Glancy.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams went scoreless and hitless in the first. Miami led off the second with two doubles, the second scoring the Canes’ first run of the day. Bedford struck out the next batter for his first strikeout of the day, adding another strikeout and limiting the damage to one run. Notre Dame went three up, three down in the bottom of the second, holding the score at a 1-0 lead for Miami.
Bedford added three strikeouts in the third inning, holding Miami off the board, and Notre Dame went down in order in the third. Bedford posted two more strikeouts in the fourth, again keeping the Canes from scoring. Glancy earned a one-out walk in the fourth, but the Irish were unable to bring him home.
Bedford took the mound to begin the fifth inning, earning an out to set a career-high in innings pitched (4.1). Spivey entered to pitch for Notre Dame, striking out the first batter he faced, with a fly ball in center field ending the top of the inning.
Penney led off the bottom of the fifth with a single, but was tagged out on an OF Tito Flores fielder’s choice. Spence tripled, Notre Dame’s first of three triples on the day, to score Flores and tie up the game. OF Brady Gumpf followed, grounding out to shortstop but scoring Spence to take the lead. The Irish added two more hits, one from INF Estevan Moreno and one from Williams, but were unable to add more.
Spivey added another strikeout in the sixth, keeping the Irish momentum and holding Miami to a zero in the top half, and Penney tripled with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, but a flyout ended the inning.
With two outs in the seventh, Miami delivered two-consecutive singles, but Spivey and the Irish held them off again to keep the 2-1 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Spence led off with a single, and INF Casey Kmet entered to pinch run. After a foul-out, Kmet stole second, and a groundout gave the Irish two outs. Williams sent a single to center field to score Kmet, adding to the Irish lead. Glancy followed as the next batter, blasting a triple to right center field to score Williams. INF Connor Hincks stepped to the plate and sent a single to left center field to score Glancy, and INF Simon Baumgardt earned a walk to place two runners on base. A final strikeout ended the inning with a 5-1 Irish lead.
Flynn entered to pitch the eighth inning. Miami led off with a double, but Flynn struck out the next two batters. A single then scored another run for Miami. After a walk, Miami grounded out to Hincks, sending the Irish to bat with a 5-2 lead.
Flores and C Carson Tinney were the first batters of the inning at the plate for Notre Dame, both drawing walks. DM Jefferson entered at designated hitter, laying down a bunt and forcing an error to load the bases with zero outs. After a strikeout, Williams sent a grounder for an RBI, scoring Flores and adding to the lead.
Entering the ninth up 6-2, the Irish turned a 6-4-3 double play from Penney to Moreno to Hincks, and after a walk, Flynn struck out the last batter to keep the 6-2 win, posting Notre Dame’s first conference victory of the season.
UP NEXT
The Irish and Canes return to Frank Eck Stadium for Game Two of the series Saturday, March 23 at 2 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on ACCNX.