Notre Dame baseball left out of NCAA Tournament after late-season fizzle

Notre Dame baseball saw its postseason chances officially die Monday when the Irish were left out of the 64-team NCAA Tournament field.

The Irish (30-24) had to see their fate coming after losing five of their last six games in May. That stretch started with an 11-inning loss to a Northwestern team that finished the season 10-40.

Notre Dame then lost two of three against Boston College and both of its ACC Tournament pool play games to Pitt, 9-5, and Wake Forest, 7-5, in the final games of head coach Shawn Stiffler’s first season leading the Irish.

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Eight ACC teams were given bids into the NCAA Tournament, which trailed only the SEC’s 10 teams. The eight ACC teams include four regional hosts (Wake Forest, Virginia, Miami and Clemson), two regional No. 2 seeds (Boston College and Duke), and two regional No. 3 seeds (North Carolina and NC State).

The Irish weren't even among the first four teams that just missed the cut: Arizona State, Kansas State, Kent State, and UC Irvine.

Notre Dame played in the previous two NCAA tournaments under former head coach Link Jarrett, who finished his first season at Florida State with a 23-31 record.

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