Notre Dame Takes Both Games of Sunday Doubleheader

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame (23-15, 11-10 ACC) completed the weekend series sweep with a pair of wins over No. 8 Virginia (32-9, 12-9 ACC) in Sunday’s twinbill at Frank Eck Stadium. The Fighting Irish took game one, 10-2 and held on for a 5-4 victory in the nightcap.

Sophomore Casey Saucke put forth a multi-hit effort in both contests, going 4-for-7 with a home run, two runs scored and two RBI.

GAME 1: Notre Dame 10, Virginia 2

Solo home runs by Carter Putz in the first inning and Jack Penney in the fourth inning helped Notre Dame jump out to a 4-0 advantage after the first four innings.

Virginia cut the Fighting Irish lead in half in the top of the sixth inning thanks a to a two-run homer by Anthony Stephan, his second home run of the season.

Notre Dame scored six unanswered runs over the next three innings to help clinch the series. The game was broken open by a three-run home run by Vinny Martinez in the bottom half of the sixth, one of four fighting Irish home runs in the contest.

Notre Dame starting pitcher Blake Hely tossed a season-high 7.1 innings, scattered six UVA hits and allowed just the two runs on Stephan’s long ball. Hely fanned eight batters and was credited with his second win of the season.

GAME 2: Notre Dame 5, Virginia 4

The Fighting Irish overcame a pair of deficits in game two and stranded the tying run in scoring position in the ninth inning.

The Cavaliers opened up the scoring in the first inning with a successful squeeze bunt off the bat of Harrison Didawick that allowed Ethan Anderson to score from third base. It was Didawick’s team-best, sixth sacrifice hit of the season.

The Fighting Irish evened the game in the bottom half of the second when Martinez scored on a sacrifice fly from DM Jefferson. An inning later, Notre Dame had its first lead of the day with a Carter Putz single to left center that scored Zach Prajzner.

Saucke put Virginia back ahead with one swing of the bat in the fourth. The sophomore cleared the right field wall for an opposite field, two-run homer, his fourth home run of the season. Kyle Teel doubled home Griff O’Ferrall in the fifth inning to put Virginia up 5-3.

Notre Dame erased its final deficit by plating three unearned runs in the bottom half of the fifth. The go-ahead run came across on a two-run, two-out double by Martinez.

Saucke clinched his second two-effort hit of the day with a two-out double in the top of the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate. The next batter, pinch-hitter Colin Tuft was hit by a pitch putting the go-ahead run on first. Notre Dame reliever Caden Spivey induced a game-ending lineout to seal the victory. Spivey limited the Cavaliers to two hits over the final 4.1 innings to earn the victory.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• In game two, Jake Berry matched a season-high with seven strikeouts in a season-high 3.1 innings pitched. He has now struck out seven batters in back-to-back relief appearances.
• Virginia drops to 8-7 in road games this year and have lost three-straight games for the first time since the 2022 season.
• UVA committed a season-high four errors in game two, the most in a game since May 15, 2022 against Clemson.
• Virginia was swept in a doubleheader for the first time since 2019, dropping both games of a home double dip against Miami.

UP NEXT

The Cavaliers return home on Tuesday (April 25) commence an 11-game homestand. Virginia will host Liberty and Towson (April 26) in the midweek before resuming ACC play against Duke on the weekend (April 28-30). First pitch for both midweek contests is scheduled for 6 p.m.