Irish take game one in Coral Gables against Miami

Some might say they stole one… but that’s just skill baybeee

A number of outlets have Notre Dame as one of the first four teams out of the NCAA Baseball Tournament this year, and if those outlets are accurate, the Irish need a big showing against the Miami Hurricanes in Coral Gables (and a little bit in the ACC Tournament as well).

On Thursday night, the Irish fought tooth and nail — and got that big win in game one of the final regular season series.

From the ND press release:

Irish Ice Hurricanes in Series Opener

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – A thrilling final out at the wall saw the Notre Dame baseball team take a 3-2 win in game one of their series at Miami on Thursday night.

Jack Radel got out of a jam in the bottom of the first. The Hurricanes put a pair on base with one out gone before the sophomore right-hander induced a fly out and chalked up a strikeout looking to slam the door on Miami.

Parker Brzustewicz led off the top of the second with a double down the left field line, but the Irish were unable to break through in their second at-bats of the contest.

Radel retired the side in order in the bottom of the second, and the Irish jumped on the scoreboard in the top of the third. Nick DeMarco punched a single through the left side of the infield and stole second to get into scoring position. The Hurricanes opted to intentionally walk Carson Tinney with two outs, and Davis Johnson made them pay by driving the first pitch of his at-bat over the left-center wall for a 3-0 advantage for the Irish.

The Hurricanes put a run on the scoreboard in the bottom half of the third with a solo home run to make it 3-1. Miami threatened again in the bottom of the fourth before Jared Zimbardo made a highlight catch in left field to end the inning.

Davis Johnson beat the shift in the top of the fifth and hustled his way to a double with two outs. Parker Brzustewicz put a charge into the ball and drove it deep to left-center field, but the Miami center fielder robbed a homer from the freshman to flip the game to the bottom of the fifth.

Radel, meanwhile, continued his strong outing with back-to-back strikeouts before inducing a one-hop grounder to Nick DeMarco to end the bottom of the fifth inning. The sophomore had another three-up, three down effort in the bottom of the sixth as the Irish continued to hold the 3-1 advantage. Radel retired the side in order to make it 11 consecutive batters retired to end the seventh inning in a quality start on the hill.

The lead-off man reached on a single in the bottom of the eighth before Radel retired the next batter with a fly ball. Ricky Reeth came on in relief and retired the next two batters he faced to roll the game over to the ninth.

Reeth rang up a strikeout before the Hurricanes put a runner on base with a one-out single. Miami made it a one-run game with an RBI single through the right side to make it 3-2. Reeth induced a fly ball to left field to record the second out of the inning. Tobey McDonough entered the game with the tying run on first and the go-ahead man up to bat. A big fly ball by the next Miami batter sailed deep to the left field wall, but Jared Zimbardo made the leaping catch into the wall to close out the win in dramatic fashion.

Jack Radel earned the win on the mound after a quality start of 7.1 innings with six strikeouts while scattering four hits and allowing just one run. Ricky Reeth went 1.1 on the hill with a strikeout, and Tobey McDonough earned his ninth save of the season after one-third of an inning of work.

Davis Johnson went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run and a double. Parker Brzustewicz, Connor Hincks, Jared Zimbardo, and Nick DeMarco each added a hit for the Irish. DeMarco scored a run, and Carson Tinney had an intentional walk and a run in the win.

The Irish (31-19, 13-15 ACC) face Miami for game two of the three-game series on Friday, May 16 at 7:00 p.m.