The score sheet says game one of a best-of-three NCAA tournament Super Regional series turned for good in the seventh inning, when Mississippi State catcher Logan Tanner deposited a full-count pitch into the right field bleachers to break an 8-8 tie.
Fighting Irish reliever Tanner Kohlhepp challenged him with a fastball. It caught too much plate — a mistake he paid for. A pitch he will want back.
No. 10 seed Notre Dame, though, exits Saturday’s 9-8 loss to the Bulldogs collectively peeved about something else. Its defense, a season-long support system for a pitching staff that specializes in generating weak contact, broke character and committed errors in the most inopportune of moments. Four times, in total.
“Those are going to hurt for a while,” Notre Dame shortstop Zach Prajzner said.
Defensive miscues gave No. 7 seed Mississippi State (44-15) a lifeline on day where the Irish’s offense wore out a stout Bulldogs pitching staff for much of the game and chased ace Will Bednar from the game after three-plus innings.
Notre Dame (33-12) led 7-3 heading into the bottom of the fifth, courtesy of Prajzner’s three-run home run. A 1-0 series lead was on the horizon. Dudy Noble Field and the 14,385 fans in it sat in stunned silence.
Until a couple surprising mistakes from the nation’s best fielding-percentage defense gave them a resupply of energy.
Prajzner’s error on a routine ground ball gave Mississippi State runners on first and second with none out in the bottom of the fifth. It ended the day for Notre Dame starting pitcher John Michael Bertrand. Kohlhepp relieved him and allowed a single to the first hitter he faced, plating the first run of the inning. He then threw a wild pitch that put runners on second and third.
One batter later, Prajzner threw too low to first baseman Niko Kavadas after he fielded a ground ball, scoring another run.
“An error in an unfortunate time,” Prajzner said.
Instead of two outs and just one run allowed, Mississippi State trailed 7-5 and was threatening for more. Notre Dame mitigated damage from there, allowing a sole run that scored on a double play Prajzner started with a pretty scoop and glove flip to second baseman Jared Miller.
But the damage was done. A comfortable cushion was erased. A few innings’ worth of smiles gradually turned upside down.
“When you’re in collect-out mode, that’s exactly what you have to do,” Notre Dame coach Link Jarrett said. “We did not collect some of the outs that were presented to us.”
Mississippi State knew it was handed a rare gift.
“Them giving us a few free passes like that, we had to capitalize on that,” closer Landon Sims said.
The Bulldogs took their first lead in the bottom of the sixth on outfielder Rowdey Jordan’s two-run home run. Prajzner, though, tied the score 8-8 in the seventh with a two-out RBI double. He ended the day 3-for-4 with four RBI. Notre Dame reached base 17 times and out-hit Mississippi State 12-10.
“I was overall pleased with the at-bats,” Jarrett said.
All told, the game featured three ties, five lead changes and endless motional vacillations. If nothing else, Notre Dame’s first Super Regional action since 2002 certainly produced a captivating script.
“National championship-caliber,” Jarrett said. “Point-blank. Atmosphere, personnel, strategy, talent. That’s what it’s about.”
Notre Dame scored in each of the first five innings and put the leadoff man on base in the first four. Pitch recognition skills stood out. Bednar, who came into the game with 109 strikeouts in 71 innings, generated just five swings-and-misses in his first three frames. His slider, normally a weapon, was a non-factor.
Irish hitters repeatedly laid off Bednar’s sliders that broke out of the strike zone. They pounced on his fastballs that too often leaked over the plate.
And at first, they picked up the defense.
Outfielder Spencer Myers’ fourth-inning RBI single and Prajzner’s three-run homer broke a 3-3 tie — which was a result of two earlier miscues.
Right fielder Brooks Coetzee bobbled the ball when fielding a third-inning single, putting runners on second and third with one out. Third baseman Jack Brannigan then misplayed a grounder that could have been a double play if not for the Coetzee’s error. Instead, a run scored to draw Mississippi State even and no outs were recorded on the play.
Notre Dame had enough offense to overcome it once.
Twice, though? Too much to ask. Especially against Mississippi State’s stout bullpen and Sims, who threw two scoreless frames to clinch the win.
“It’s hard to win when you make those kind of mistakes,” Jarrett said. “It’s not impossible. We were on the verge of doing it. But it wasn’t the normal style of baseball that we play.”
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