After a rainout two weeks ago postponed the planned 2025 Notre Dame baseball home opener, the Irish finally made their return to Frank Eck Stadium on Wednesday as they welcomed the Butler Bulldogs to South Bend.
Ranked No. 9 in the national RPI, Notre Dame picked up a crucial road win over consensus top-10 Clemson on Sunday. The 7-3 triumph gave the Irish their first ACC victory of the season, after dropping their first five contests at Wake Forest and Clemson.
In-state rival Butler has struggled as of late, dropping six straight games prior to Wednesday afternoon’s affair. The Bulldogs do have a pair of offensive stars in Jack Moroknek and Jack Bello batting over .450 on the year, but the pitching staff has struggled, with a collective ERA of nearly 11.
With both sides utilizing openers, opting to turn to their bullpens for much of the day, the game remained tight at 3-3 midway through the fourth inning. The Irish bats would then reignite from their hot weekend in South Carolina, batting around the order en route to an eight-spot to push the lead to 11-3.
The frame began with a pair of walks and a hit batsman to load the bases, before freshman infielder Bino Watters struck a single through the left side to plate a pair. Junior infielder Estevan Moreno then sent a gap shot for a double which scored one more. After that, sophomore catcher Davis Johnson belted his second homer of the season, which moved the lead to 9-3. Graduate infielder Connor Hincks nearly made it back-to-back blasts, but his deep fly ball to right field careened off the top of the wall as he scurried to the third for a triple.
The offensive explosion would continue in the fifth, as freshman southpaw Brady Koester sent the Bulldogs down in order. Afterwards, the Irish would score six to move the lead to 17-3. Watters started off the inning with his second home run of the afternoon, bringing his season total to four. The youngster from Rochester Hills, Mich. has had an impressive start to his collegiate career, hitting over .300 with eight extra-base hits.
Notre Dame would find their back-to-back bombs, as Moreno followed up Watters with a moonshot off the scoreboard.
Butler got one back in the top of the sixth with a homer of their own, but Moreno capped off his career day in the bottom half of the frame as his triple to the right-center field alley completed the illustrious cycle. It was the first cycle for an Irish player since March 11, 2016, as well as the first four-hit day of the Illinois native’s three-year career.
Graduate left-hander Jack Walker struck out three of the final four Bulldog batters to close matters in the 18-4 Irish win. Koester picked up his first win of the season after going 1.2 innings without conceding a hit.
With their losing streak now at seven games, and a 6-14 overall mark, the Bulldogs will look to get back on the right side of the ledger with a slew of midweek games upcoming. Butler will have four more road games, at Ball State, Cincinnati, Saint Louis, and Miami (Ohio), before hosting their home opener next Friday against Northern Illinois.
Now sitting at 12-6 overall, the Irish will continue their 14-game homestand this weekend. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets come to town for a Friday through Sunday series to bring ACC baseball back to Frank Eck Stadium. The series opener is set for 4:30 p.m. on Mar. 21, with streaming available on ACCNX.
