There was a moment Notre Dame baseball looked like it was getting back to being a winning program again, but after being swept by UNC and NC State, the Irish dropped their 7th game in a row — this time against the Michigan State Spartans in a mid-week matchup in South Bend.
Notre Dame Baseball: Irish Fall to Spartans
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame baseball team was on the short end of a 7-4 final against Michigan State on Wednesday evening at Frank Eck Stadium.
The Spartans used a solo home run in
the top of the first to snag an early lead. Michigan State added a run in the top of the third, and the Irish responded with a run in the bottom of the frame. Mason Barth was hit by a pitch before Drew Berkland drew a walk with two outs. Noah Coy used a single to right field to drive in Barth on the play.
Michigan State plated four runs in the top of the fourth to go up 6-1.
The Irish pushed a run across in the bottom of the fifth. Mason Barth and Jamie Zee both drew walks, and Brandon Logan used a sacrifice bunt to advance the pair 90 feet. Drew Berkland then had a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Barth from third.
Notre Dame started the bottom of the seventh by Jamie Zee reaching first after getting hit by a pitch. Brandon Logan then laced a ground-rule double to left field to put a pair in scoring position. Drew Berkland used his second sacrifice fly of the day to drive in Zee to make it a 6-3 game. Brandon Logan and Noah Coy had a successful double-steal, and a wild pitch allowed Logan to come in to score as Irish got within two at 6-4.
The Spartans added a run in the top of the eighth with a solo home run. The Irish made a push in the bottom of the ninth after Noah Coy and Mark Quatrani laced a pair of two-out singles, but the comeback effort was stopped short in the 7-4 final.
Drew Berkland drove in a pair with two sacrifice flies while Noah Coy had two hits and drove in a run. Mason Barth scored twice. Brandon Logan had a double and scored a run for the Irish. Jamie Zee walked once, was hit by a pitch and scored a run. Mark Quatrani and Dylan Passo each had a hit.
Chase Van Ameyde suffered the pitching decision on the mound after going 1.0 and striking out one. Will Jaisle, Caden Crowell, Oisin Lee, Dylan Singleton and Eli Thurmond combined for eight innings of work. Lee struck out three, and Singleton had four strikeouts in 3.0 innings on the night.
The Irish (15-13) continue a homestand as they host Virginia for a three-game ACC series starting at 5:30 p.m. on Friday night.
