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Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025
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Thomas: Top 10 storylines, moments from Notre Dame's historic season

The Notre Dame baseball team put together a remarkable and historic season in 2022. It ended in somewhat uncharacteristic fashion. Some mental mistakes and fielding sloppiness cost the Irish several runs. And when the Irish looked to be mounting a potential late-game comeback, they promptly struck out and grounded into a double play. And the season ended with a bit of a whimper, a 5-1 loss to No. 5 Texas A&M. 

It’s the end of a remarkable two seasons for the Irish. Last year, Notre Dame came from seemingly nowhere to push eventual national champion Mississippi State to three games in a road Super Regional. The Irish returned eight of their nine in the starting lineup and they provided an encore for the ages in 2022. The Irish started off their season with a 12-1 record, even rising to No. 1 in the Baseball America rankings. They swept through another regional on the road. Afterwards, Notre Dame pulled one of the biggest upsets in recent college baseball history. They took down No. 1 Tennessee, a team dubbed by many as the greatest college baseball team of all-time entering the weekend. 

The Irish are going to look a lot different next year. They’re guaranteed to lose four starting bats, and it’s likely a few more depart. Key names in their pitching staff are either gone, or they have decisions to make. Head coach Link Jarrett has his own decision to make, with his alma mater Florida State featuring a head coach opening. But right now is not the time to linger on the uncertainty of the future or the unceremonious and disappointing exit in Omaha. This was a program spinning and going nowhere. Jarrett and this group of upperclassmen completely turned it around. It was the best two-year stretch in program history, culminating in their third-ever trip to the College World Series. So, saving the questions of what’s to come for another day, here’s a look back at ten storylines and moments to remember. 

  1. The Brannigan Bearclaw 

This moment didn’t boast the significance of the other nine on this list. But please don’t forget Jack Brannigan stealing home for the third time in his career. Not because he stole home. But because he got such a good jump that when he tripped and scurried on all fours to cover the last 30 feet of basepath, Brannigan still beat the throw. May the Brannigan Bearclaw live forever in Notre Dame baseball history. 

  1. Wake Series

This goes down as arguably the most entertaining home series of the year. The Irish had been swept by Duke the previous weekend and were in need of a big series to regain some mojo. Things started with a relatively pedestrian 8-3 win on Friday afternoon, as Bertrand fired six strong innings. Saturday provided fireworks. The Irish scored 3+ runs in five different innings, slapped a 21-spot on the board and decimated the Demon Deacons, 21-3. 

On Sunday, the Irish tied up their bounce-back weekend with a bow.  The Irish rallied from deficits of 8-2 and 12-8 to win 13-12 via walkoff. The series featured a bit of everything. A great pitching performance from Bertrand on Friday. Electrifying offense on Saturday. And finally, an improbable rally and walk-off win on Sunday. The wild series kickstarted their stretch run, as they finished 8-4 in their 12 ACC games after the Duke series. 

  1. The Emergence of Jack Zyska

Zyska’s emergence provides one of the best storylines of the season for the Irish. He started 30 games as a freshman but hit just .211. After his junior year, Zyska was hitting .209 on his career with four career home runs. He doubled that total in the first six games of 2022, hitting four home runs in his first 14 at-bats. He became a force in the Irish lineup and hit .294 with 13 home runs in this last season. In the Super Regional upset over Tennessee, Zyska went 8-13 with five RBI, lifting the Irish offense. 

If Zyska returns for a fifth season, he’ll be a feared power bat. If not, his resurgent senior season will remain one of the top storylines of the 2022 Notre Dame season. 

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Ryan Vigilante | The Observer
Irish outfielder Jack Zyska celebrates a home run during Game 1 of the NCAA Baseball Super Regional game between Notre Dame and Tennessee.

  1. Irish ranked #1 for home opener

In a season of program-defining moments, this was one of the best. As is customary for the Irish, they started the season on the road, going 11-1 in their first 12 games. They put an exclamation point on that stretch with a two-game road sweep of preseason ACC favorite NC State. That sweep pushed Notre Dame over the top in the Baseball America’s poll, as the Irish earned a No. 1 ranking for the first time in 21 years.

It was a brief stay atop the rankings for the Irish, but it was enough to play their home opener versus Valparaiso as the No. 1 team in the country. Jarrett said after the game that he told his players it was a reflection of how they played, but it didn’t mean anything once they got on the field. Notre Dame won that game 12-1. 

  1. FSU Sweep

Another big moment for the Irish came after an eye-opening stretch early in ACC play. The Irish lost four straight games to Louisville and Virginia Tech. Both teams entered unranked but ended up as regional hosts, showcasing the depth and talent in the ACC. However, that dropped Notre Dame to 2-4 in conference play, heading into a road series against No. 5 Florida State. 

The Irish faced a tall task, facing off against one of the best aces in the country in Parker Messick on Friday night. Messick blanked Notre Dame, but Bertrand matched him pitch for pitch. The game rolled into extra-innings, and Cole delivered a two-run bomb in the 12th inning to win the game. The Irish then produced two more wins for their first road sweep of a top-5 opponent in program history. It was dually a historic and critical weekend for the 2022 squad. 

  1. ACC Semifinals

Another first in program history. The Irish entered the conference tournament as the four-seed and cruised through pool play to advance to the ACC Semifinals for the first time in program history. The Irish lit up Messick in their first game, surviving a late rally to beat the Seminoles, 5-3. Then, Notre Dame blanked Virginia, the squad responsible for their ACC tournament elimination a year ago. The 3-0 win propelled the Irish to the semifinals, marking another milestone in the 2022 season. 

  1. Mustaches and Bananas

Need a superstition to keep your postseason momentum rolling? The Irish have you covered. First, there was Top Gun and the mustaches that followed. The Irish learned they would not be a regional host, a snub that shocked most of the college baseball world. The Irish responded in a typical way — by watching Top Gun as a team. And that began the postseason mustache trend. Those lasted throughout the tournament run, as the Irish rode their mustached momentum to Omaha. 

And then there were the rally bananas. Those appeared against Tennessee. The Irish emphasized ‘winning the last hour’, which started in the seventh inning for them. Everyone in the dugout stood by the rails, munching on a banana. Specifically, they took a bite for every base the Irish earned. Was there a connection between the bananas and some late-game heroics, both at the plate and on the mound? The world may never know.

  1. Jared Miller

On May 14, it looked like five-year starter and two-year captain Jared Miller was done for the season. He dislocated his shoulder, and a return looked unlikely. Miller didn’t see the diamond until the postseason, making a single pinch-running appearance in the Statesboro Regional. There, he stole a base and scored the winning run. Then, Miller returned to the starting lineup in the Super Regional and immediately made his presence known. He started the remaining six games for Notre Dame and hit .450. He blasted a pair of home runs, provided sterling defense at second base and captained the Irish for one final stretch. Delivering a three-hit game in his final appearance for the blue and gold, Miller ended his career battling to the final pitch, a fitting end for a player that played such a critical role in the program’s turnaround.  

  1. “We’re not losing this game”

After Game 3 against Tennesee, Brannigan revealed to the press that while standing in the dugout, awaiting his next at-bat, he was approached by LaManna. The catcher came over from the on-deck circle in the seventh inning with Notre Dame trailing the No. 1 team in the country, 3-1. “Don’t worry,” LaManna said. “We’re not losing this game.” 

A bold statement. And one that LaManna proceeded to back up, blasting a game-tying two-run blast with two outs. Brannigan followed and blasted his own shot. And suddenly, Notre Dame led 4-3. The home run celebrations and rally bananas were present in all their glory, as Notre Dame rallied to stun No. 1 Tennesee. It’s hard to find a single better moment than these back-to-back home runs in Notre Dame baseball history. And it’s only topped on this list by the emergence of the newest legend in Notre Dame sports. 

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Max Petrosky | The Observer
Notre Dame relief pitcher Jack Findlay (24) pitches during the game between Notre Dame and Purdue Fort Wayne at Frank Eck Stadium on Wednesday, April 20, 2022. The Fighting Irish defeated the Mastodons, 12-2.

  1. The Legend of Jack Findlay

I can’t type out a better one-sentence sentiment than the following, so I’ll let Blue and Gold Illustrated beat writer Ashton Pollard do the talking. 

https://twitter.com/ashtonpollard7/status/1537978021440761857?s=12&t=AsWjWf_oWB-Z2Yz3Q680qA

That sums it up. Jack Findlay was good all season but primarily pitched in low-pressure situations. He made a handful of spot starts in ACC series, but his primary role was as a midweek starter or long relief in mop-up situations. But Findlay excelled, regardless, pitching to an ERA below 2.00 for most of the season. That included a start in which No. 6 Miami roughed up the freshman lefty in the final game of the regular season. That didn’t deter Jarrett from using the southpaw in critical situations in the NCAA Tournament. 

Findlay escaped several jams in the Statesboro Regional en route to recording two saves in the final two games. 

Findlay’s magic didn’t end there. He fired two innings to earn the save in Game 1 against Tennessee. Then, in Game 3, Findlay cemented his spot in Irish lore. Facing a red-hot Tennessee offense, with the Irish trailing 3-1, Findlay entered in the fifth inning. He proceeded to fire five innings of one-hit, shutout baseball. Notre Dame rallied, and Findlay grabbed the win to move to 1-0 with 3 saves and a 0.87 ERA in the postseason. 

In the College World Series opener, Findlay fired 2.1 perfect innings to notch his fourth and final save of the NCAA Tournament. Even with a small falter in his final appearance, Findlay finished the NCAA Tournament with 14.2 innings pitched and a 1.84 ERA. That all came in just nine games after throwing just 35 innings in the first 49 games of the year. Findlay became an Irish legend over the month of June, and Notre Dame fans can look forward to three more years of that. 

Irish had fun, delivered memorable season

It didn’t end the way they wanted, but this Irish squad deserves to be remembered for the ride they gave their fans. With all their goofy antics and celebrations, this Notre Dame team played the game with a joy that is hard to find in today’s game at any level. After beating Texas, Bertrand noted: “The day you stop having fun is the day you should hang them up.” 

Forty-one wins, their most since 2006. A trip to Omaha, their first since 2002. This Notre Dame baseball squad never stopped having fun, and they delivered a season for the ages.
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