After falling 9-5 to lowly Pittsburgh in Wednesday’s pool-play opener of the ACC Tournament, Notre Dame baseball coach Shawn Stiffler was asked if he viewed Friday night’s date with top-ranked Wake Forest as a must-win game for the unranked Irish.
“We’re going to treat it that way for sure,” Stiffler told reporters in Durham, N.C. “If we come 1-1 out of here, I think our ACC record proves we’re one of the better (teams).”
Following last year’s run to the College World Series, eighth-seeded Notre Dame (30-23 overall, 15-16 ACC) finds itself on the proverbial bubble ahead of the NCAA Tournament selection announcement on May 29.
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An upset of the top-seeded Demon Deacons would give the Irish a season split of four games between the two teams, but Notre Dame will head home either way to await its postseason fate.
“I don’t pretend to know what the committee is thinking,” said Stiffler, who led Virginia Commonwealth to three NCAA appearances in his 10 seasons. “I certainly would feel a lot better with one of these two (possible) wins here.”
Irish left-hander Aidan Tyrell gave up three of Pittsburgh’s five home runs, including a three-run shot by Noah Martinez that snapped a 3-3 tie in the fourth. Tyrell, who relies on pinpoint location, struggled with his command and exited after allowing eight hits and two walks in four innings.
Notre Dame took two of three on the road in a high-scoring series with the Panthers (24-30) in early April, but the Irish lineup couldn’t keep pace with the No. 12 seed on Wednesday.
“They hit home runs and we hit into (four) double plays — plain and simple,” Stiffler said. “We couldn’t keep them in the ballpark.”
TJ Williams and Carter Putz had three hits apiece for the Irish, who left 11 men on base and produced just three extra-base hits out of 15 overall.
“We kept getting traffic the entire day,” Stiffler said. “I loved our at-bats. I loved the way we competed. … It was nothing we did wrong. We were hitting balls on the screws. Sometimes you hit them at people.”
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