Notre Dame baseball kept its hot start to 2025 rolling this past weekend in Florida, compiling three wins in three days at the Stetson Tournament. It was the Irish’s second straight weekend in the Sunshine State to open head coach Shawn Stiffler’s third year at the helm, after the group started the campaign with a 2-1 series win at North Florida.
The tournament began with a hard-fought, 2-1 extra-inning victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes on Friday afternoon. The retooled Irish pitching staff flexed its arms against a Hawkeye offense projected to finish in the top half of the Big Ten, recording nine strikeouts while walking just two. The effort on the mound was spearheaded by sophomore right-hander Jack Radel, who has now turned in two successful starts after his five-inning masterclass on Friday.
The bats remained quiet though for the Irish throughout much of the afternoon, until graduate infielder Connor Hincks blasted the go-ahead home run off the scoreboard at Melching Field in DeLand, Florida, during the top of the 11th inning to push the Irish ahead for the first time all day. Graduate reliever Tobey McDonough would retire the side in the bottom half of the frame to nail it down for the Irish, while also giving Coach Stiffler the 400th win of his storied career between VCU and Notre Dame.
Facing an undermatched UMBC side, the Irish offense exploded on Saturday as Notre Dame ran all over the Retrievers en route to a 12-2 run-rule triumph. Notre Dame had runners all over the basepaths for the first four innings but couldn’t muster anything to show for it before three consecutive two-outs hits from sophomore catcher Davis Johnson, senior infielder Nick DeMarco and graduate outfielder Brady Gumpf made it 4-0 Irish in the fifth.
The offense continued to mash, pushing multiple runs across in each of the next two innings before a de facto walk-off hit by pitch for senior outfielder DM Jefferson ended matters. It was also a banner day for graduate right-hander Jackson Dennies, who picked up just his third career win on the hill throughout his five seasons in South Bend. The New Orleans native turned in 5 1/3 innings on one-run baseball, topped off by eight punchouts.
The Irish completed the perfect weekend by dominating the hosts on Sunday with a 8-2 victory. The offense continued to rally with two outs, as Notre Dame plated four in the second behind big hits from graduate outfielder Jared Zimbardo and freshman infielder Bino Watters. After the Hatters of Stetson trimmed the lead in half during the fourth, the Irish responded by scoring the game’s final four tallies to close out a complete weekend.
The Irish used five pitchers to record the win, including freshman Kellan Klosterman, who worked out of a jam in the seventh by inducing a key 6-4-3 double play. McDonough slammed it shut again, picking up the six-out save for his second of the season.
Notre Dame continues the barnstorming trip next weekend, traveling to Nashville for a three-game set with the Belmont Bruins. Playing in the Missouri Valley Conference, the Bruins are off to a rough 0-7 start this season but will have one more chance with crosstown rival Lipscomb during the midweek before next weekend’s series. The home slate finally opens up next Wednesday, March 5th, when the Irish welcome Eastern Michigan to Frank Eck Stadium.
