Tennessee baseball breezed through the Knoxville Regional this past weekend, downing Alabama State, Campbell and Georgia Tech in order to advance to its second straight Super Regional appearance.
The Vols draw Notre Dame, which similarly breezed through its regional and into its second straight Super Regional. The Fighting Irish downed host school Georgia Southern – the No. 16 overall seed – before besting Texas Tech in the regional championship to move on.
Here are three things to know about the Fighting Irish ahead of this coming weekend.
A change of pace
Notre Dame relies on its pitching to get the job done. The Fighting Irish have the seventh best ERA in the country at 3.82.
Notre Dame also has a .980 fielding percentage, another top-15 mark in the country. The Fighting Irish held opponents in Statesboro to a combined total of seven runs in three games.
It goes without saying, that’s really good. It’s also really different when compared to Tennessee’s recent competition: Campbell and Georgia Tech. The Camels and Yellow Jackets both ranked within the top 10 in home runs, with Georgia Tech representing the No. 1 batting average in the country when it faced off against the Vols Sunday night.
Tennessee has to be prepared for that dramatic shift in tone. The Fighting Irish represent the lowest combined ERA the Vols have faced up to this point in the season.
John Michael Bertrand is Notre Dame’s ace. The sixth year graduate student originally from Furman has started 16 games this year and owns a 2.27 ERA. Bertrand appeared twice in the Statesboro regional, pitching 8.2 innings and allowing just one run and zero walks.
Austin Temple could also present some problems for Tennessee’s order this weekend. The Jacksonville transfer was Notre Dame’s Sunday starter for most of the season has posted a 3.46 ERA in 13 starts. Temple has allowed 25 earned runs this season in 16 total appearances
Capable, yet low-scoring offense
For all their prowess on defense, the Fighting Irish have struggled to score runs at times.
A lot of the times, that hasn’t mattered. Notre Dame outscored opponents just 11-7 across three games in Statesboro. That may become a problem when facing one of the most potent offenses in the country.
Ryan Cole is the most complete hitter on the roster. He has knocked in 33 RBI with nine home runs and a .323 batting average. Cole is second on the team with 61 total hits on the year. He shined in the regional round, batting 8-for-12 with two RBI and three runs.
Cater Putz leads the Fighting Irish with 71 hits on the season, but has struggled in the postseason thus far. The 2022 team captain is tied for first on the season with 42 RBI.
Notre Dame is 107th in the country in hits with 543 in 1,838 at-bats. As one could guess, the Fighting Irish are low in runs as well – totaling just 399 on the season. That’s good enough for 88th in the country.
Hot at the right time
Sometimes, being hot at the right time is all you need for a deep postseason run.
The Fighting Irish were likely under seeded heading into the regional round. They were the three-seed matched up against the lowest host seed in a loaded regional site with Texas Tech.
The Fighting Irish have downed #22 Texas Tech twice, No. 16 overall seed Georgia Southern and then-ranked No. 13 seed Virginia in the past two weeks. By no means should that resume have been a three-seed
That adds to a plenty strong resume the Fighting Irish have created this season. Notre Dame swept Florida State, won both games against NC State in March and swept a high-octane offense Wake Forest in mid-April.
It’s hard to compare any team to the run Tennessee is on right now, though. The Vols haven’t lost in over three weeks. They’ve won 15 of their last 16 and 11 straight. We could beat you over the head with how good they are, but the results really speak for themselves.
Simply put – Notre Dame hasn’t faced a team similar to Tennessee all season. Wake Forest represents the best hitting team the Fighting Irish have had success against, but the Demon Deacons have struggled on the mound this year.
Tennessee owns the No. 1 ERA in the country by a considerable margin. It also has multiple first round picks at its disposal, alongside relief pitchers Kirby Connell and Will Mabrey that are playing as well as they ever had.
