Notre Dame's power play has Irish on the brink of CWS berth
If Notre Dame was the least bit distracted by a sudden coaching opening at Irish head coach Link Jarrett’s alma mater on Friday, the Irish had a weird way of showing it.
Wonderfully weird, that is. Historically weird. Epically weird.
The 14th-ranked and unseeded Irish raked the nation’s leading team in ERA for four home runs early. They then turned to freshman lefty Jack Findlay late to close out an 8-6 victory over top-ranked/top-seeded Tennessee in game 1 of the NCAA Knoxville Super Regional at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
“It’s chaos,” Tennessee coach Tony Vitello said. “Welcome to it if you don’t like it.”
It was the first-ever loss in Super Regional play for the Vols (56-8) and leaves the upstart Irish (39-14) one win away from their third-ever berth into the College World Series. Ace lefty John Michael Bertrand (9-2, 2,27 ERA) takes the mound at 2 p.m. EDT Saturday (ESPN). He’ll face SEC Pitcher of the Year Chase Dollander (9-0, 2.38 ERA), a sophomore right-hander.
“This doesn’t end it,” Jarrett said of the best-of-three series, “but to watch them play like that under these conditions and play with that kind of composure says a lot about them.”
And it comes 20 years to the day that Paul Mainieri’s Irish baseball team knocked off No. 1 Florida State in Super Regional play on their way to ND’s most recent CWS appearance.
Tennessee on Saturday will be without pitching coach Frank Anderson, ejected in the fifth inning Friday for arguing balls and strikes and reportedly suspended for the next three Vols games. Center fielder Drew Gilbert was tossed moments earlier for a profanity-laced tirade launched at home plate umpire Kellen Levy after the Vols' No. 3 hitter in the order took a 1-0 pitch for a strike.
The NCAA subsequently suspended Gilbert for Saturday’s game.
“When (Levy) tossed him, I was kind of confused who got ejected,” Vitello said, “but all that got cleared up. Can’t take it back. Pretty well documented that the kid likes to win, plays with a lot of passion. He let it spill over a little bit there.”
Notre Dame not only played with passion, the Irish flexed the kind of power they used to get from slugger Niko Kavadas last season when he led the nation in home runs per game.
Carter Putz hit a two-run homer in the first, Jared Miller a solo shot in the second, Jack Zyska a two-run blast in the third and Jack Brannigan a three-run home run in the top of the fourth for an 8-1 Notre Dame lead.
Putz, Miller and Zyska all touched up Tennessee starter Blade Tidwell (3-2), a right-hander with a 2.00 ERA coming in who’s considered a future first-round MLB Draft pick. Miller went 3-for-4 in his first start since May 14 coming back from a dislocated shoulder.
Chants of “Let’s Go Irish” reverberated through the crowd of 4,583 that included former NFL star/Tennessee alum Peyton Manning and current Notre Dame star defensive end Isaiah Foskey after Brannigan hit his 11th home run of the year, this one off of lefty Will Mabrey.
Zyska leads the Irish with a modest 12 dingers. Tennessee, the nation’s team leader in home runs per game, has nine players on its roster with at least 10 and six with more homers than Zyska.
The Vols introduced a tradition this year of having their home run hitters parade around the dugout in a cheetah-print fur coat, and they finally got a chance to exercise that.
Grad senior right-hander Austin Temple pitched into the fourth inning, but was pulled after Trey Lipscomb hit his team-leading 22nd to lead off the inning followed by a walk to Jorel Ortega. Right-hander Alex Rao (3-1) got the Irish out of the inning with no further damage and an ND 8-2 lead.
An Ortega solo shot leading off the sixth closed the gap to 8-3. Rao kept rolling, though, until with two outs in the seventh he allowed two base runners. Sophomore Matt Bedford relieved and wild-pitched the runners to second and third, then surrendered a two-run double to Lipscomb for his 84th and 85th RBIs on the year.
Brannigan is ND’s RBI leader with 45.
Bedford then struck out Ortega to end the inning.
Freshman Findlay, who got the first two saves of his career last weekend at the Georgia Southern Regional, reprised his role as multiple-inning closer. He pitched around a leadoff walk in the eighth and allowed a one-out homer to Jordan Beck in the ninth before striking out Jared Dickey and coaxing Lipscomb to ground out to shortstop to finish off the Vols.
“I think it’s just the poise, no matter what’s going on around him,” Brannigan said of Findlay’s postseason conversion into a closer. “I think last week he was in bases-loaded jams in a one-run game multiple times.
“We’ll take a mound visit, and it looks like he’s comfortable. The poise was exceptional for a freshman, and he goes out there and executes his pitches well. It’s really good to see from a freshman.”
Outfielder Ryan Cole was pulled in the sixth inning after aggravating an old hamstring injury. Jarrett hoped to have him available for Saturday’s game. Otherwise, TJ Williams is a likely fill-in.
“Remarkable. Impressive. Expected … out of me,” Jarrett said of his team’s overall performance. “They didn’t surprise me with how they played.”
Nor was he surprised when the Florida State coaching vacancy was brought up in the postgame press conference. Jarrett’s former Seminoles teammate and longtime close friend Mike Martin Jr. was fired Friday after three seasons.
Jarrett, a former two-time All-America shortstop, is expected to be the school’s No. 1 target to replace Martin.
"I mentioned it (to the team) today,” said Jarrett, who signed a contract extension with ND through 2026 back in December. “I said, 'I love you guys. We're here to win this. I'm not talking about this coaching stuff. I'm talking about Notre Dame and the University of Tennessee.'
“And that goes in here (press room), too. There are distractions. That's a unique one, and I wanted them to know that, because it is out there. I love the way these guys play, and I’m not talking anymore.
“I have no idea what's going on down there. That coach was my roommate and a good friend of mine. My focus is 100% on this and this team and trying to find a way to win one of these last two games. That's it."
NATIONAL SUPER REGIONAL SCORES AND SCHEDULES
All times are Eastern/Records updated after each result
► Notre Dame (39-14) at No. 1 Tennessee (56-8)
Friday: Notre Dame 8, Tennessee 6
Saturday at 2 p.m. (ESPN)
Sunday at TBD (TBD).
► No. 9 Texas (45-20) at No. 8 East Carolina (46-19)
Friday: East Carolina 13, Texas 7
Saturday at Noon (ESPN2)
Sunday at TBD (TBD)
► No. 12 Louisville (42-20-1) at No. 5 Texas A&M (41-18)
Friday: Texas A&M 5, Louisville 4
Saturday at 3 p.m. (ESPN2)
Sunday at TBD (TBD)
► Oklahoma (41-21) at No. 4 Virginia Tech (44-13)
Friday: Oklahoma 5, Virginia Tech 4
Saturday at Noon (ESPNU)
Sunday at TBD (TBD)
► UConn (49-14) at No. 2 Stanford (45-15)
Saturday at 10:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
Sunday at 7 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPNU)
Monday at TBD (TBD)
► Arkansas (41-19) at No. 10 North Carolina (42-20)
Saturday at 11 a.m. (ESPN)
Sunday at 1 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)
Monday at TBD (TBD)
► Ole Miss (35-22) at No. 11 Southern Mississippi (47-17)
Saturday at 4 p.m. (ESPNU)
Sunday at 4 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPNU)
Monday at TBD (TBD)
► No. 14 Auburn (40-19) at No. 3 Oregon State (47-16)
Saturday at 10:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Sunday at 10 p.m. (ESPN2)
Monday at TBD (TBD)
The determination of the Men’s College World Series order of first-round games both Friday, June 17, and Saturday, June 18, will be announced Monday, June 13. The ESPN family of networks and http://www.ncaa.com/mcws will release the MCWS game dates and times as soon as they are available.The Men’s College World Series begins play Friday, June 17, at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Neb.
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