Following a midweek rainout that canceled Tuesday’s game against Michigan State, Notre Dame baseball returns to the field for the first time since last weekend’s sweep at the hands of NC State. Fortunately for the Irish, they will be at home, where they’ve gone a strong 4-1, including winning their lone ACC series at Frank Eck Stadium two weeks ago against Miami.
However, their opponent this week isn’t just their best of the season, but arguably the best in the country. The Clemson Tigers are ranked No. 2 in the nation, holding a gaudy 25-3 record. The Tigers enter South Bend on fire, winning 10 of their last 11 games. There is little doubt that they will be playing into the summer with sights set on reaching the College World Series for the first time since 2010.
In its most recent series, Clemson recorded the same result as Notre Dame against Miami, winning two of three, although it did so on the road. The Tigers then thrashed USC Upstate 11-1, with the game being called for the run rule after seven innings.
The strength of the team lies in its pitching staff, which is one of three in the ACC with an earned run average under four. Sunday starter Aidan Knaak is 10th in the conference with a 3.76 ERA, and last week’s game-one starter, Matthew Marchal (who has mostly pitched out of the bullpen), has an even better 3.24 mark. Lucas Mahlstedt and Rob Hughes have been dynamite in the back of the team’s bullpen, with Mahlstedt posting a 2.18 ERA and Hughes striking out 10.7 batters per nine innings.
While the Tigers overall aren’t truly special on offense (ninth in the ACC in runs scored), they can hit the ball out of the ballpark. Only three teams in the conference have more home runs than Clemson’s 51, and only two players in the ACC have more homers than team leader Blake Wright’s 13. Wright is one of four Tigers regulars with an OPS above 1.000 (Alden Mathes, Jacob Hinderleider and Jimmy Obertop), a group that Tristan Bissetta (.991) could join with a strong weekend.
The Irish pitching must rediscover the strong form it showed at the start of the Miami series. After allowing just four runs in the first two games against the Hurricanes, Notre Dame has surrendered 36 runs in its last four contests. It wasn’t just the number of runs the Irish allowed that broke them, but when they came across. Eight runs against the inning after jumping out to a 7-1 lead in the Miami finale, then two more yielded in the 10th after the offense rallied again. Back-to-back walk-off losses to the Wolfpack, including giving up three in the bottom of the ninth on Sunday after graduate student outfielder David Glancy’s two-out, two-run homer broke a 4-4 tie in the top half.
There were some encouraging signs for the Irish in Friday’s game, as graduate right-hander Tobey McDonough, sophomore right-hander David Lally Jr. and graduate right-hander Nate Hardman all delivered outings free of earned runs. All three figured to be trusted arms for Shawn Stiffler entering this season but struggled mightily over the season’s first month. Stiffler shortened the staff in the two close games in Raleigh, using just five pitchers across the final two contests. One of those was sophomore right-hander Caden Spivey, who was charged with two earned runs in 2 1/3 innings of work.
Senior right-hander Matt Bedford is projected to oppose Marchal in Friday’s opener at 4:30 p.m. Freshman right-hander Jack Radel is slated to take the ball Saturday at 5:30 p.m. against Clemson lefty Ethan Darden. The rubber match should pit sophomore right-hander Rory Fox against Knaak and will take place Sunday at 1 p.m.
