SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame (15-15) dominated the Butler Bulldogs (13-18) at home Wednesday, winning 11-2 in the midweek matchup. The Irish capitalized on Butler miscues, as seven Irish scored, with three scoring multiple runs.
OF David Glancy earned the first run of the evening on a solo homer, his 11th of the season, as he scored three runs on the day. INFs Jack Penney and Connor Hincks both posted multi-hit games, with Hincks earning two RBI along with INF Simon Baumgardt.
Hincks also fielded another double play against Butler, his 26th of the season. He leads the ACC in the category.
On the mound, Notre Dame was locked in, as a true bullpen day allowed for seven Irish arms to see action. RHP Sammy Cooper (1-0) earned the win, his first of the season, with a career-high four strikeouts, while RHP Tobey McDonough started for the Irish, going two hitless and scoreless innings.
INF Nick DeMarco made his first start of the season Wednesday in place of an injured Estevan Moreno. He posted his first-career double on his first at-bat of the evening. Wednesday also saw RHP Aidan Krupp’s first appearance in an Irish uniform, as he posted his first-career strikeout.
HOW IT HAPPENED
McDonough and the Irish sat the Bulldogs down in order in the first, with McDonough adding a strikeout. In the home half, after an out, Glancy homered to left field for his 11th home run of the season. Notre Dame added two singles from Baumgardt and Penney, but the Irish were held to a 1-0 lead.
After a HBP to lead off the second for Butler, Hincks fielded and turned a double play, his 26th fielding double play of the season (leads the ACC). A popup to McDonough ended the inning. In the bottom of the inning with one out, DeMarco, in his first start of the season, hit a ground-rule double. It marked the first double of his collegiate career. Butler retired the next two batters to end the inning and keep Notre Dame from scoring.
RHP David Lally entered to pitch for Notre Dame in the third and dealt three strikeouts. The Irish went down in order in the bottom of the third. RHP Ricky Reeth entered to begin the fourth on the mound for Notre Dame, and after two singles and a sac bunt, Butler had two runners in scoring position and one out. However, Reeth and the Irish forced a flyout, and after a walk, ended the inning on a popup to keep Butler from scoring.
In the bottom of the fourth, after a flyout, Hincks drew a walk and got to second on a wild pitch. OF Brady Gumpf forced an error, pushing Hincks to third. Another wild pitch from the Bulldogs scored Hincks, bringing Gumpf to second. After a strikeout, C Tony Lindwedel forced an error to reach base and push Gumpf to third. Lindwedel stole second, but a strikeout ended the inning with a 2-0 Irish lead.
Butler went three up, three down in the fifth. In the bottom of the inning, Glancy led off with a HBP, and OF Tito Flores walked to push Glancy to second. Both runners took another base on a passed ball, and Baumgardt hit a sac fly to score Glancy for Notre Dame’s third run. After a lineout, Hincks added an RBI single, bringing Flores home from second to increase the lead to 4-0. A groundout ended the inning.
The Bulldogs led off the top of the sixth with a single, and a home run cut the Notre Dame lead in half. Reeth struck out the next batter, and Butler forced an error before Cooper took the mound for Notre Dame. Cooper struck out the first batter he faced, and after a walk, struck out the next batter to end the inning up 4-2.
DeMarco led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk, and Lindwedel followed suit for a free base. OF T.J. Williams placed a sac bunt to earn both runners a base, and Butler intentionally walked Glancy to load the bases. After a strikeout, Baumgardt drew a walk to bring DeMarco in to score. Penney then singled, and Butler made an error on the throw, to bring in two runs for Notre Dame. Penney then took second on a passed ball. Hincks singled and scored Baumgardt as Penney went to third. The Irish then attempted a double steal, with Hincks drawing the infield to score Penney. Notre Dame went to the field with a 9-2 lead.
Cooper added two strikeouts in the seventh, as Butler batters went down in order. In the bottom of the inning after an out, DeMarco and Lindwedel both again walked, taking another base on a wild pitch. Williams walked to load the bases, and after a strikeout, another wild pitch allowed DeMarco to score. The game went to the eighth with a 10-2 Irish lead.
RHP Ryan Lynch took the mound in the eighth, and struck out the first two batters he faced. After a single, Krupp entered the game for his first-career appearance. After a walk, Krupp dealt a strikeout to send the Irish to bat. After a strikeout in the bottom of the eighth, Penney drew a walk, getting to second on a passed ball. A flyout notched the second out for the Irish, and OF DM Jefferson singled to bring Penney home, increasing the lead to 11-2 to head to the ninth.
RHP Will Jacobsen entered to close it out for Notre Dame and forced a leadoff groundout. After a HBP, a fielder’s choice ball kept one runner on, and a flyout to Glancy cemented the Irish win.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame travels to Chapel Hill to face No. 13 North Carolina in a three-game series April 12-14. All games will be broadcast on ACCNX.