Notre Dame Baseball Preview: Irish To Play Three Games In Alamo Classic
Fresh off of taking two to out of three games to open the season against UAB last weekend, the Notre Dame Baseball team travels to San Antonio for the Alamo Irish Classic played at Nelson Wolff Stadium, home of the Triple-A San Antonio Missions.
This is the 22nd Alamo Irish Classic, which is courtesy of the Notre Dame Club of San Antonio.
The Fighting Irish were actually supposed to play their first of four games last night against Incarnate Word but, due to inclement weather, the game was canceled and the Fight Irish will now play three games this weekend.
Notre Dame will now play their first game of the Alamo Irish Classic today at 6 p.m. ET versus Incarnate Word, followed by a doubleheader tomorrow against Toledo and the Univesity of Texas at San Antonio, with the first game starting at 4 p.m.
With a 2-1 record to kick off the season, Notre Dame has a chance to pick up where they left off against Incarnate Word tonight.
Incarnate Word
While the Cardinals may not be a well-known program, this will be a tough matchup for the Fighting Irish. The San Antonio-based Incarnate Word is 3-0 on the season after sweeping Bradley last weekend and went 37-22 in 2019.
Notre Dame played Incarnated Word twice last season in the Alamo Irish Classic, splitting the series with a 2-1 win and a 15-7 loss.
Toledo
Coming off a 19-36 record (4-21 in the MAC) in 2019, the Toledo is 0-4 to start the season.
University of Texas at San Antonio
After back-to-back winning seasons in 2017 and 2018, UTSA went 28-30 last season, but the Roadrunners are off to a 4-1 start, with their lone loss coming in the form of a 6-2 defeat at the hands of Texas on Tuesday.
Players To Watch
Tommy Sheehan — LHP
Notre Dame's left-handed ace, Tommy Sheehan, is fresh off an excellent opening weekend, where he was named the ACC Pitcher of the Week after throwing seven shutout innings against UAB with a career-high nine strikeouts.
Look for Sheehan to get the start tonight.
Niko Kavadas — First Base
Niko Kavadas was the home run leader for the Fighting Irish last season with 12. He already hit his first dinger of the season last Sunday against UAB and if he continues to show power at the plate, it should only boost the junior's draft stock.
Carter Putz — DH
Now a sophomore, Carter Putz started 47 games for the Fighting Irish as a freshman and was hot to start the season against UAB. The righty went 6-8 at the plate during the opening weekend with two doubles, a triple, four runs scored and an RBI.
Can he stay on fire in San Antonio?
Joe Boyle — RHP
Against UAB, the junior flamethrower tossed 1.2 innings in relief, striking out five batters and walking one. If Joe Boyle can keep his walks down the season, he could prove to be a high pick in the 2020 MLB Draft.
With a fastball that tops out a 100 MPH, Boyle is a player to keep an eye on this weekend and throughout the season.
What Could This Weekend Mean for the Irish?
First-year head coach Link Jarrett will want to keep up the momentum from last weekend's opening series win.
If the Fighting Irish can return to South Bend 4-2 or 5-1, it will put them in a good position before ACC play kicks off against North Carolina on March 6.
The Fighting Irish struggled out of the gate in 2019, going just 4-7 before conference play began, which included being swept by Arizona State to open the season and two losses to Ball State.
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