Notebook: ND's Penney progressing but out for ACC baseball tourney
Notre Dame starting third baseman and clean-up hitter Jack Penney has shown encouraging signs recently that he’ll soon be ready to return from an injury to his non-throwing (left) shoulder.
But not soon enough to help the Irish (30-22) this week in the ACC Championship in Durham, N.C.
The 12-team tournament began its pool-play phase Tuesday, and eighth-seeded Notre Dame jumps in Wednesday with its first game at 11 a.m. EDT, against 12th seed Pitt (23-30). Ace lefty Aidan Tyrell (8-2, 2.57 ERA) takes the mound for the Irish.
The Irish then take on top seed and No. 1 nationally ranked Wake Forest (45-9) Friday night at 7, needing to win both games to advance to Saturday’s semifinals and perhaps both as well to lock down an NCAA Tournament bid for the third straight season.
In D1 Baseball’s latest bracketology, the Irish are listed as one of the last four teams in the field, along with Arizona State, 2022 College World Series runner-up Oklahoma and fellow ACC member NC State.
As for Penney, ND’s leader in walks (26) and tied for the lead in home runs (10), he has missed six straight games after injuring the shoulder in a 5-2 win over Akron on May 12.
“Jack has taken ground balls. He has started to hit some front-toss,” Irish first-year head coach Shawn Stiffler said Tuesday via Zoom from Durham. “Does not look like he’ll be available this week. Our hope is to get him working through pregame this week. And then if we move on to NCAA play, hopefully getting him back for that.
“That's the best-case scenario right now. It's just strength and mobility. Until you let that shoulder fully heal, there's greater risk that it could reinjure itself, and we don't want that for sure.”
Senior Casey Kmet has been the primary fill-in for Penney, who Stiffler called “elite” defensively. The left-handed-hitting sophomore is slashing .241/.347/.453.
“We haven't found our rhythm offensively since Penney has been out,” Stiffler said. “Hopefully, we can get a hit or two [early against Pitt] and take a deep breath and relax.”
Bowen redshirts, joins Corn Dogs
Notre Dame early enrolled freshman Drayk Bowen still has the ambition to play two sports in college, but the earliest now the Irish middle linebacker from Merrillville (Ind.) Andrean High will make his ND baseball debut is 2024.
He officially joined the Irish in mid-January upon enrolling, but never saw game action and will not for the balance of whatever is left of the season.
“He never got close,” Stiffler said. “I mean, that was a very, very tough situation to throw Drayk into. He should be getting ready for prom, and he's thrown into [things] middle of the year, as we're preparing for game play.
“And so, just not having that fall and that opportunity to learn our systems, to learn our language, to learn, really, everything. If I didn't feel like he was going to play a significant role, I'd always felt like we would probably redshirt the year and allow him to get accustomed to all three things — academics, baseball and football.”
Bowen will indeed redshirt and has already left the team, so he can get some game action in over the next few weeks playing summer college ball in the Northern League for the Lake County Corn Dogs.
The defending Northern League champs open their season Thursday night (8 EDT) at home — Legacy Field in Crown Point, Ind. — against the NW Indiana Oilmen. He’ll rejoin the football team for summer workouts and summer school next month, with classes starting June 12.
Bowen is expected to play the corner infield spots during his brief time with Lake County. With ND, he practiced at third and first and both corner outfield spots, but Stiffler said he’ll likely move full time to the outfield next season for the Irish.
“There is a future for him on the baseball side,” Stiffler said. “Now, it's going to continue to get tougher and tougher. As he plays a bigger role in football, he's probably going to start playing a bigger role for us.
“And so, there's going to have to be a little bit more sharing and sacrificing on his end and both of our ends, but I do think he's going to have the ability to continue to move forward and play for us. And we love his leadership, and I want him to do that.
“The young man is very, very serious about this [continuing in two sports]. It's smething he wants to do and something we want him to do. And I know that I know that [head football coach Marcus Freeman] and myself are willing to work together to do that. This is why Notre Dame is special for these types of scenarios. And so, we're excited for him.”
Coetzee plays through pain
Notre Dame grad senior right fielder Brooks Coetzee obviously has a high pain threshold.
The South Africa native has been hit by a pitch a nation’s leading 30 times this season, an ACC record and seven short of the NCAA record. And since April 16, he’s been playing with a broken hand.
The first six of those games that followed, Coetzee was limited to pinch running and playing as a late-game defensive replacement. But on April 28, against former ND coach Link Jarrett and the Florida State Seminoles, he returned to full-time duty.
“We don't teach getting hit by pitch,” Stiffler said. “We talk about holding our ground and the way we want to react to the pitch that's inside. Like everything Brooks does, he takes everything to 100-and-some percent. I mean, that's how he does everything. And if you want to get him out consistently, you have to pitch him in.
“He just — I don't know — it started happening. And you had those weird games where he got hit four times maybe in one game. I mean, we have two walk-off wins on the year. Both are by hit by pitch. So, it suits Brooks. If he would have a Notre Dame record, an ACC record or a national record, it would probably be hit by pitch or running into walls. I don't know which one, but it sounds good.”
Stiffer went on to praise the four grad seniors, all of whom could have transferred out when Jarrett left for Florida State after taking the Irish to the College World Series, that being Coetzee, shortstop Zack Prajzner, first baseball Carter Putz and Terrell, who started the season in the bullpen and is now ND’s No. 1 starter.
“I can't say enough about those guys,” Stiffler said, “and how proud I am of them and how much they mean — not only to the team right now, but how much they've meant to me personally. To help me get this era started, to help me kick off my first season.
“And the way they have responded, the way they've done everything we've asked him to do and they're unbelievable people, unbelievable leaders. They're going to have great futures.”
Looking ahead
Stiffler said either grad senior righty Blake Hely (3-3, 5.22) or junior right-hander Jackson Dennies (0-3, 2.86) will start against Wake Forest on Friday night, with Dennies finally off his short leash following an injury.
“He's in a good place and feels very, very strong,” Stiffler said. “And so, he's ready for whatever role we need him in.”
And Stiffler believes the entire team is in the right frame of mind, given what’s at stake.
“You can look at that as pressure and you can look at that as opportunity,” he said. “... I mean, these guys have seen it all. They've done it all. So I believe there'll be free. This is why you play.
“This is what's great about college baseball — school's out, and you're with 40 guys who care about the exact same goal you care about, are on the same mission. I trust them to go out and embrace the moment and be free. And, hopefully, I can stay loose in the dugout and maybe if I don't freak out, maybe they won't.”
ACC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Durham Bulls Athletic Park; Durham, N.C.
(All Times EDT)
POOL A – #1 Wake Forest, #8 Notre Dame, #12 Pitt
POOL B – #2 Virginia, #7 North Carolina, #11 Georgia Tech
POOL C – #3 Clemson, #6 Boston College, #10 Virginia Tech
POOL D – #4 Miami, #5 Duke, #9 NC State
TUESDAY
No. 6 Boston College 11, No. 10 Virginia Tech 7
No. 7 North Carolina 11, No. 11 Georgia Tech 5
No. 9 NC State 8,. No. 5 Duke 7 (11 innings)
WEDNESDAY
No. 12 Pitt (23-30) vs. No. 8 Notre Dame (30-22), 11 a.m. (ACC Network)
No. 2 Virginia (44-11) vs. No. 11 Georgia Tech (30-26), 3 p.m. (ACC Network)
No. 3 Clemson (39-17) vs. No. 10 Virginia Tech (30-22), 7 p.m. (ACC Network)
THURSDAY
No. 1 Wake Forest (45-9) vs. No. 12 Pitt, 11 a.m. (ACC Network)
No. 7 North Carolina (34-21) vs. No. 2 Virginia, 3 p.m. (ACC Network)
No. 4 Miami (37-18) vs. No. 9 NC State (35-18), 7 p.m. (ACC Network)
FRIDAY
No. 6 Boston College (35-17) vs. No. 3 Clemson, 11 a.m. (ACC Network)
No. 5 Duke (35-20) vs. No. 4 Miami, 3 p.m. (ACC Network)
No. 8 Notre Dame vs. No. 1 Wake Forest, 7 p.m. (ACC Network)
SATURDAY
Pool A Winner vs. Pool D Winner, 1 p.m. (ACC Network)
Pool B Winner vs. Pool C Winner, 5 p.m. (ACC Network)
SUNDAY
ACC Championship, Noon (ESPN2)
MONDAY
NCAA Tournament Selection Show, Noon (ESPN2)
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