It was a first home weekend to forget for Notre Dame baseball. Coming off an 18-4 demolition of Butler in last Tuesday’s home opener, the Irish went 0-3 against the newly-ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, finishing with a run differential of -23 for the series.
Notre Dame (12-9, 1-8 ACC) has an even more difficult ACC series coming up with former Irish skipper and No. 4 Florida State in town to end March, but the Irish will first play a midweek game Wednesday night against Michigan State. The Spartans (16-7, 3-3 Big Ten) have opposed the Irish 143 times, appearing on Notre Dame’s schedule in each of the past three seasons. This year’s meeting will serve as game five on Notre Dame’s 14-game homestand that runs through April 8.
The Irish haven’t lost a midweek game this year, going 3-0 with two road wins against Winthrop and the aforementioned blowout of Butler. Notre Dame pitching was good in all three games — which can be a massive difference-maker with top arms being saved for the weekend — allowing only four earned runs in total. Graduate right-hander Dylan Heine started two of those games, pitching five strong innings at Winthrop and 3.1 more with only one earned run given up against Butler.
At the plate, Notre Dame’s two freshman infielders from Rochester Hills, Michigan, remain the story. Despite being hardly a month into their college careers, Parker Brzustewicz and Bino Watters are locks in the top three of head coach Shawn Stiffler’s lineup, and for good reason. Brzustewicz, after extending his hit streak to 10-games with a five-hit weekend against Georgia Tech, remains the team leader with a .380 batting average. And although Watters had a rough go with five strikeouts on Sunday, he’s still 6-for-18 with three long balls and seven runs batted in on the homestand, pacing the Irish in both of those categories with five and 22, respectively.
Sophomore catcher Davis Johnson continues to emerge as well, now leading Notre Dame with a 1.073 OPS. He showed off his raw power from the left side on Sunday, crushing a game-tying home run off the top of the batter’s eye in left-center field. Junior shortstop Estevan Moreno keeps climbing as well after a brutal start to the season. He’s driven in multiple runs in four of the last five games and had seven hits in the first three games of the homestand before going 0 for 4 on Sunday.
Spartans aiming to build on road series win
It’s been a while since Michigan State baseball was relevant. The Spartans last made the NCAA Tournament in 2012 and did not appear in the big dance for 33 years before that. However, they’re having more success at 16-7 in head coach Jake Boss Jr.’s 17th season and come off a noteworthy series win at Penn State.
Sophomore infielder Ryan McKay, who made 46 starts at second base as a freshman, was the top story of Michigan State’s successful trip to State College. He was named a Big Ten Co-Player of the Week, going 13 for 18 in four games with a 4-for-4 midweek showing against Oakland before going 5 for 5 in Friday’s series opener. He added three more hits on Sunday for good measure and leads Michigan State in batting average (.386), on-base percentage (.523) and hits (32) while walking 24 times with only 14 strikeouts.
McKay was one of two Spartan position players named to the Big Ten’s Preseason Players to Watch list, joining junior infielder Randy Seymour. Though he hasn’t set the world on fire with a .253/.322/.468 slash line, Seymour ranks second on the team with 21 RBI. Only redshirt senior infielder Sam Busch has driven in more runs, as the East Lansing native leads the Spartans with seven home runs, 23 RBI and a .643 slugging percentage. Graduate catcher Caleb Berry, the team’s leader in OPS (1.099), is an NAIA transfer from Milligan. He started all three games at Penn State and enters Tuesday on a 10-game hit streak.
Michigan State has put together a quality year thus far on the mound (4.41 ERA), led by weekend ace Joseph Dzierwa and his five earned runs, nine walks and 51 strikeouts in 36.2 innings pitched. Redshirt sophomore right-hander Tate Farquhar made the midweek start on the mound a week ago, posting two scoreless frames en route to an 8-5 Spartan victory. The Spartans will host Illinois this weekend after facing the Irish and begin April with a game against the Lansing Lugnuts, the High-A affiliate of the Athletics, next Tuesday. The Lugnuts compete in the Midwest League along with the South Bend Cubs.
In the college baseball world, Notre Dame will host Michigan State at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Frank Eck Stadium.
