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Sports
The observer | MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2023 | ndsmcobserver.com
ND BASeball
Irish belt eight home runs in UNC series loss By TYLER REIDY Associate Sports Editor
Though No. 13 North Carolina took two of three games in South Bend this weekend, Notre Dame baseball got its money’s worth. The Irish outscored the Heels 19-16 overall, launching an octet of homers and leading for the majority of the series. Notre Dame’s offense continues to thrive at Frank Eck Stadium, having now launched 14 round-trippers in its first eight home games. With the result, UNC moves to 20-8 overall and 6-4 in the ACC, while the Irish drop to 14-11 overall and 5-7 in the conference.
Game one: North Carolina 10, Notre Dame 8 With a healthy wind ripping straight out to left field, Friday’s ball jumped off the bat. Though both teams combined for 18 runs on 21 hits and five homers, the game was even more berserk than the stat sheet could indicate. UNC provided the keynote with two in the first and two more in the second, scoring three runs on productive outs. Irish graduate starter Blake Hely
struggled early, walking two and hitting a man within the first seven batters. As Hely settled into the middle innings, Notre Dame’s offense came to life. In the second, the Irish placed runners on the corners with one out. After junior left fielder Brady Gumpf struck out, freshman second baseman Estevan Moreno stepped in with two away. Hunting the first pitch, he launched a threerun homer to dead center, his third of the year. With the Irish within one and new life in their dugout, the offensive run carried into the third. Facing the same situation as Moreno, graduate student catcher Vinny Martinez went to the opposite field for his first home run in South Bend, another three-run shot. Up 6-4, Notre Dame continued to take batting practice off UNC starter Max Carlson in the fourth. Graduate shortstop Zack Prajzner jumped on a two-strike fastball and ripped it 430 feet to the top of the center-field batter’s eye. While the Irish led 7-4, the bullpens took control of the game. Both UNC reliever Matthew Mattijs and Irish sophomore Radek Birkholz
each tossed two-plus scoreless frames. After the former departed, Notre Dame grabbed an insurance run on a majestic eight-inning homer from junior outfielder TJ Williams. Leading by four, the Irish turned to graduate student Carter Bosch to handle the ninth. Shockingly, Bosch’s 9.1 inning shutout streak was snapped in thunderous fashion, as he surrendered six runs without recording an out. Leadoff man Colby Wilkerson cranked a solo shot to right, jumpstarting UNC’s potent offense, which had earned only four hits in the first eight innings. From there, the Tar Heels grabbed three consecutive hits, drawing within two and loading the bases. In stepped Johnny Castagnozzi, who previously delivered a key two-run single in UNC’s 2022 ACC semifinal defeat of Notre Dame. Sure enough, he burned the Irish again, powdering his first career grand slam. When the ball — and his bat flip — landed, North Carolina had taken a 10-8 lead. The bottom of the ninth added insult to injury for the Irish. Both Prajzner and graduate student first baseman Carter Putz flew out to the wall in center, allowing Kevin
Eaise to hold on for the save.
Game two: North Carolina 5, Notre Dame 2 For the second consecutive weekend, inclement South Bend weather pushed the end of the series to a Sunday doubleheader. A fine starting pitching performance from UNC’s Connor Bovair allowed the Heels to open the twin bill with a series win. He tossed eight innings of two-run ball, punching out eight and walking just one. Early on, however, it seemed that sophomore Jack Findlay would match him. The Irish starter kept the game scoreless through four innings. But UNC’s bottom of the order broke through in the fifth. With two outs and a man on first, Patrick Alvarez doubled and Wilkerson singled, putting the Heels up 2-0. North Carolina added on in the sixth, as Jackson Van De Brake homered on the second pitch of the inning. In the meantime, Notre Dame remained off the board with a close call in the fourth. On a soaring Carter Putz fly ball to left, Alvarez leaped high against the wall and made a juggling catch. Finally,
in the seventh, the Irish made a loud entry to the scoreboard. Martinez got an elevated breaking ball and hit a moonshot to left with an authoritative bat flip to boot. The two-run blast pulled Notre Dame within one, but UNC pushed back in the ninth. After graduate reliever Will Mercer walked the bases loaded, Van De Brake dumped a two-run single into right. From there, Eaise again worked the ninth and saved the 5-2 victory.
Game three: Notre Dame 9, North Carolina 1 With its back against the wall, Notre Dame played one of its best games of the season to stave off a sweep. Junior pitcher Jackson Dennies, coming off his best outing of the season, did one better in the series finale. In 4.2 scoreless innings, he struck out seven and allowed just two hits. On the other side, the Irish offense was ready to go right away. Carter Putz, the third hitter in the lineup, walloped a fastball in the first inning. With the wind see BASEBALL PAGE 8
ND and hcc tennis
Holy Cross, Notre Dame tennis perform well against conference opponents By THOMAS ZWILLER Sports Writer
April 1 is a time for practical jokes that are often never funny, at least to the person being pranked. And as many people around the country were yelling out “April Fools,” the Holy Cross College tennis teams were not joking around as they began conference play. The No. 18 women’s squad started its conference season against the Saint Ambrose University Fighting Bees, though the Bees failed to put up much of a fight falling 4-0. Individual match results have not been posted as of Sunday night. The women have won back-toback matches for the first time this year, improving their record to 6-6 overall with a 1-0 start to conference play. Their next conference match is scheduled for April 11 at the Eck Tennis Pavilion as they host Olivet Nazarene
Rugby Continued from page 8
low scoring. “It’s tough. I mean, it’s becoming a running joke. We host this thing, and it doesn’t matter the date, the conditions have seemed to be pretty poor,” Hickey said. “The biggest thing is that it impacts the spacing. We’ve gotta tighten things down — you can’t make big passes. I think [it’s] just probably
(0-5). The match will begin at 1 p.m. Historically, the women have struggled against Olivet, losing both matches they played against the Tigers last season by a combined 8-1. The Tigers went 6-0 in conference play last season before falling short in the CCAC Championship to Cardinal Stritch. For the Saints, the contest is a chance to see how they measure up against one of the historically better conference opponents. The match could have seeding implications in the conference tournament, which could help the Saints take a significant step toward the team’s goal of winning a conference title. The No. 16 Men’s team also hosted conference foe St. Ambrose and also blew them out, winning 4-0. Individual match results have not been posted as of Sunday night. Thanks to their dominant win
over Saint Ambrose, the Saints have improved to 6-2 (1-0) on the year and have won their last four games. The men will look to keep that winning streak alive when they host Olivet (1-5) on Tuesday, April 11. On the other side of the tricampus, the No. 22 Notre Dame women’s team had an excellent outing, as it knocked off Louisville by a score of 5-2 The women won the doubles competition 2-1, with senior Page Freeman and sophomore Maria Olivia Castedo winning by a narrow score of 7-5. The other winning duo was sophomore Carrie Beckman and freshman Bojana Pozder, who won 6-3. Junior Yashna Yellayi and freshman Rylie Hanford were the only pair to lose to the Cardinals in a close loss of 7-6. In singles play, Notre Dame continued its domination, winning the competition 4-2. The result gave the Irish their first
back-to-back wins since late February, when they defeated then-No. 29 Clemson and Chicago State. The top-25 team is now 13-7 on the year and has moved within one game of .500 in ACC play (45). The women will look to get back to even at Florida State on April 6. Staying at Notre Dame, the men’s tennis team had a busy weekend, playing both Boston College and Butler on Sunday. In their second game of the day, the men took down Butler by a final score of 4-3. The Irish won the second and third doubles matches 6-2 and 6-3, with the first game ending as a DNF. The doubles matches earned Notre Dame a critical point, which it would wind up needing down the stretch. Sunday’s match was a big one for the teams’ sophomores, who helped seal the Irish victory. Sophomores Yu Zhang and
Jameson Corsillo both won their games in two sets each. It was the upperclassmen who struggled for Notre Dame. Graduate student Addy Vashistha and senior Connor Fu both came up short, losing 6-4, 6-1 and 6-4, 6-2, respectively. Match three went the distance, but junior Jean-Marc Malkowski lost the third set 5-7. While the game was closer than doubles play suggested, the Irish did what they needed, going 2-0 on Sunday. Thanks to their wins against Butler and BC (6-1), the men have a record of 12-11 (2-7 in the ACC). Their 2-7 mark currently has them in the lower third of the ACC standings behind Georgia Tech. The men’s tennis team will resume conference play on April 7 at Clemson.
an indicator of the couple of times we lost today. You’ve gotta make smart decisions, you might be able to get an offload away in traffic, but today you’ve got the wind factoring in as well. It just requires you to be a little bit tighter and a little bit more cautious with your play.” Indiana University took home the qualifying bracket crown with a 19-7 victory over Notre Dame College (Cleveland, Ohio) in the title game. Fighting Irish rugby’s
hopes still remain alive for a bid to the 32-team national championship tournament at the end of the month. The Irish need a strong performance at the Big Ten Rugby championships in order to qualify. Notre Dame will host the championships on April 15.
of the first half, Notre Dame rode a strong second half to win its first match of pool play. The match was played to a stalemate until late in the first half when the Illini got the game’s first try. After a botched Illini line-out, junior Nolan Opalski had the ball fall into his hands. The Carlsbad, California, native was able to break free from the Irish defense, grounding the ball over the try line with 1:40 left in the first half. Illinois converted the kick for an
extra two points and led 7-0. But the Irish responded as time dwindled in the first half. Sophomore Andrew Packard broke through at midfield and raced up the right side of the pitch, scoring a try with just fifteen seconds remaining in the half. Although senior James Warren was unable to convert the kick, the Irish were on the board. Illinois led 7-5 at halftime.
Irish top Illinois to open pool play In their first match of pool play, the Irish defeated Big Ten foe Illinois 24-14. Trailing at the end
Contact Thomas Zwiller at tzwiller@hcc-nd.edu
see RUGBY PAGE 11