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Notre Dame baseball: an Irish crash course for College World Series

Today is the day that for the first time in 20 years Notre Dame fans can wake up and say their team is competing in the College World Series in a few short hours.

Notre Dame is set to take on Texas in the College World Series at 7 p.m. ET in Omaha this evening as the Irish are making their third Series trip in program history.

I’m not knocking you when I say this but I’m well aware based off how our baseball articles have been viewed all year that a lot more of you are paying attention in the last few days.  Some will say otherwise but the more on the bandwagon we can get the better.

With you in mind, here are just a few of the star players and numbers to know about the Notre Dame baseball team ahead of their College World Series opener tonight against the Longhorns.

Related:  All-time College World Series appearances by program

Notre Dame Road Warriors

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Notre Dame is 52-21 (.712) away from Frank Eck Stadium under head coach [autotag]Link Jarrett[/autotag]. In 2022, the Irish are 12-9 in true road games and 11-3 in neutral site games.

Notre Dame is one of best programs in recent years

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The Irish are 85-30 (.739) since the start of the 2020 season. That winning percentage ranks second in the NCAA over the past three seasons, trailing only Tennessee.

Not beating themselves

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Notre Dame is 13th in the NCAA and first in the ACC in fielding percentage with a .980 mark this season.  The Irish have committed 41 errors in 1,475 putout opportunities this season.

Elite Athletic Program

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Notre Dame is the only school in the country to have a team in the College World Series, both March Madness tournaments and a New Year’s Six bowl game.

Regional Roundup

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Notre Dame is one of three teams (Tennessee and Texas) to go undefeated in the Regional Round in each of the last two seasons.

Tough to Score on

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The Irish rank 12th nationally and are first in the ACC in team ERA with 3.95. They have given up 216 earned runs in 491.2 innings this season.

Bracket Busters

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The Irish are the first program in NCAA Tournament history to have four wins over the No. 1 national seed in the Super Regional round.

More Pitching Nuggets

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The Irish are sixth in the NCAA and first in the ACC with 7.67 hits allowed per nine innings. They have given up 419 hits in 491.2 innings pitched this season.

Can't win if you don't score

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The Irish allowed three runs or less for the 28th time this season in the 7-3 win over #1 Tennessee on June 12. They are 28-0 this season and 54-2 overall under Jarrett in games they allow three runs or less.

Carrying the ACC Flag

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Notre Dame is the only ACC team that advanced to Omaha after four ACC squads were in the Super Regionals.

Get to Know: Pitcher, Jack Findlay

Freshman pitcher [autotag]Jack Findlay[/autotag] has been huge for Notre Dame this season.  In 45.1 innings pitched he’s had an ERA of just 1.99 and a WHIP of 0.971.  Findlay went five innings in Sunday’s comeback win over Tennessee, allowing just one hit to the mighty Volunteers lineup in the Irish upset.

Get to Know: Pitcher, John Michael Bertrand

(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

[autotag]John Michael Bertrand[/autotag] is the Notre Dame ace and gets the ball in the Irish College World Series opener versus Texas.  Bertrand, the brother of linebacker J.D. on the football team, went 9-3 with an ERA of 2.93 in 17 starts and in just over 103 innings pitched this season.

Get to Know: Third baseman, Jack Brannigan

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[autotag]Jack Brannigan[/autotag] has been huge for Notre Dame at third base as his glove and arm have played a big role in the stellar Irish defense.  At the plate Brannigan is no slouch either, hitting .296 this season with a .361 on-base percentage, 12 home runs, and 46 batted in.  Brannigan had a pair of home runs in last weekend’s series at Tennessee, including the go-ahead home run in Sunday’s clincher.

Get to Know: Outfielder, Ryan Cole

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When the 2016 Chicago Cubs were doing their thing, manager Joe Maddon would say about leadoff man Dexter Fowler, “You go, we go” and the same can be said for Irish leadoff man [autotag]Ryan Cole[/autotag].  Cole has gotten on base at a .434 clip this season and is a threat when he does, having stolen 21 bases this year while being caught just once.

In Summary

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If you’re new to this Notre Dame baseball fandom you’re a little late to what has been an incredibly fun couple of years but we’re glad you’re here nonetheless.  This is a very veteran group who came within one game of the College World Series last year, ultimately falling in the Super Regional to Mississippi State who won the whole tournament.

Notre Dame isn’t going to be seen as the team with the most talent of the eight playing in Omaha the next few weeks but they might be the best.  What do I mean by that?  They rarely beat themselves on the bases or in the field, they work at-bats, and moments simply don’t seem to big for them.

I don’t know what’s going to happen in terms of how the next couple of days or weeks will play out but I do know Link Jarrett is an elite college baseball coach and that despite not being viewed as a traditional baseball school, Notre Dame has one of the best programs in the entire nation going right now under him.

Here’s hoping that means a long stay in Omaha for the Irish and maybe just maybe, some hardware to bring back to South Bend.

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