Irish comeback falls short against Western Michigan
Notre Dame baseball continued their extended homestand on Tuesday evening by welcoming Western Michigan University to Frank Eck Stadium for a midweek clash. Entering play at 14-11 overall, the Irish were coming off a 2-1 home series loss to No. 4 Florida State over the weekend, which dropped the team to just 2-10 in the ACC. In heartbreaking fashion, the Irish lost 5-4 on an interference ruling in the ninth inning to mark their third consecutive defeat.
In the visiting dugout, the Western Michigan Broncos of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) came to South Bend with a 6-19 record following their MAC Championship and NCAA Regional appearance a year ago. Despite the team’s struggles this season, they have found midweek success in March as they knocked off Big Ten foes Michigan and Northwestern on the road in successive weeks.
Freshman right-hander Kellan Klosterman made his second start on the hill for Notre Dame, and the Cincinnati native was lights out in his three innings of work. Klosterman didn’t concede a hit and also struck out with only one walk.
The Irish bats were also quieted early. Bronco sophomore right hander Zach Vriesenga turned in three innings of no-hit baseball himself, blanking Notre Dame while facing the minimum in his outing.
Both teams found the scoreboard in the fourth, as redshirt senior outfielder Dylan Nevar plated the first Western Michigan run of the day with a single to center field off freshman reliever Chase Van Ameyde. Junior infielder Estevan Moreno answered back for the Irish in the bottom half of the frame, as his two-strike double to the left-field gap scored freshman infielder Bino Watters.
The Broncos scored two more off Van Ameyde in the fifth, with Nevar collecting his second RBI of the game with a two-out single up the middle.
While the Notre Dame offense remained silent, Western Michigan doubled their lead to make the margin 5-1 in the top of the eighth with another two-out rally. This time it was senior right-hander Ricky Reeth on the bump for the Irish, but junior infielder Grady Mee kept his hot bat going, picking up his second and third RBI of the evening with a clutch liner into shallow center field.
With the deficit at four entering the bottom of the ninth, the Irish strung together a rally to capitalize on a pair of walks and a key error to make the score 5-4 with just one out. The bases were loaded for freshman infielder Parker Brzustewicz, who had reached base safely in 18 consecutive games but sat at 0-4 with a strikeout entering the key plate appearance.
The Rochester Hills, Michigan native grounded the 1-0 offering directly back to graduate pitcher Jake Gernon, who went home to record the second out, before senior catcher Chris Akers fired to first to complete the would-be game-ending double play. Except the ball hit Brzustewicz as he barreled down the first base line, momentarily igniting the Irish dugout as the tying run rounded third base.
In past years, Brzustewicz would have been able to establish his own running path, but with the implementation of the safety bag at first base in college baseball this season, the runner needs to be running in foul territory by the time he reaches the halfway point (45 feet) between home and first. The umpiring crew went to review the play, and upheld the original ruling of interference, meaning that Brzutewicz was out and Western Michigan escaped with the shocking 5-4 upset victory.
The heartbreaking loss handed the Irish their third consecutive loss, and dropped the team to 14-12 overall. With Western Michigan’s poor record, the defeat also tanked Notre Dame’s Rating Percentage Index (RPI), a key metric for selection into the NCAA Tournament, from the top-15 to outside the top-25.
Notre Dame’s planned rescheduled game for Wednesday against Eastern Michigan has been preemptively postponed for a second time, with an expected makeup date in May. The Irish will now have two days off before returning to the ACC slate, with Virginia Tech traveling to South Bend for a three-game weekend set. Game 1 between the Irish and Hokies is set for a 4:30 p.m. first pitch on Friday, with streaming available on ACCNX.
Comments (0)