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FSU Baseball Preview: Noles Hit The Road For Series at Notre Dame

By Ty Ragans

May 12, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; A detailed view of a baseball glove and bat before the game between the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
May 12, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; A detailed view of a baseball glove and bat before the game between the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports /
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After a dramatic home win against JU on Tuesday, FSU baseball will hit the road this weekend to take on Notre Dame for a three game series in the ACC.

FSU baseball is approaching an important weekend series when they travel up to South Bend, Indiana to take on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Notre Dame enters the weekend series with a 7-12 record, 2-4 in the ACC.

A sweep would be ideal, but it’s important for FSU to win the series against one of the lesser teams in the conference. The FSU schedule becomes increasingly difficult after the weekend with series against teams such as North Carolina, NC State, Clemson, Virginia, Miami, and Louisville on the horizon.

There’s reason to believe FSU will drop some games in the series against conference powers meaning it’s essential for them to win the games they are expected to win, such as the ones against Notre Dame this weekend.

Last Time Out

Last time the Noles took the field, they got off to an abysmal start by allowing seven runs to Jacksonville in the top of the first inning. It’s safe to say the fans were getting a little testy with this club, wondering if they were in for another 17-0 thumping. But FSU baseball did what you have to do when finding yourself in an early hole; they limited further damage and chipped away at the deficit until it disappeared.

After a rough start for Andrew Karp, the FSU bullpen picked him up for 8.1 innings by allowing just one additional earned run. The FSU offense, which usually relies on walks took matters into their own hands and posted 16 hits on the night.

It was a big night for Taylor Walls and Cal Raleigh who have had their relative struggles this season. Walls went 4-5 with two runs, two RBI, and a monster shot home run to dead center. Raleigh was 3-4 with three runs and two RBI, and a clutch home run in the bottom of the ninth.

The hero of the day was JC Flowers. Flowers’s two out, two-strike single with the bases loaded scored Hank Truluck and Jackson Lueck to complete the comeback victory by a score of 10-9 in walk-off fashion.

Opponent Preview

The Fighting Irish are coming off a 12-1 win against Northern Illinois in the midweek, the victory improved their overall record to 7-12, and the Irish are 2-4 in conference. Notre Dame will be happy to have a home series on the weekend, their lone home game of the season so far was the aforementioned victory over NIU.

Notre Dame carries a team batting average of just .236, an on base percentage of .319, and the Irish have scored 85 total runs through 19 games in 2017. For comparison’s sake, FSU baseball is batting .270 as a team, with an on base percentage of .413, and the Noles have scored 184 runs through 22 games this season.

Leading the Irish at the plate is sophomore outfielder, Matt Vierling. Through 71 at bats this season Vierling is carrying a batting average of .352, Vierling is tied for the Notre Dame home run lead at three and he leads the squad in RBI with 17.

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Right behind Vierling in the pecking order is sophomore infielder, Nick Podkul. Podkul has 76 at bats this season with a .329 average. Vierling and Podkul are the only Irish hitters that carry a batting average greater than .300.

The Friday starter for Notre Dame is junior right hander, Brandon Bielak. On the season Bielak is 1-3 through five starts with an ERA of 5.32. In 23.2 innings of work Bielak has allowed 22 hits and recorded 28 strike outs to 20 walks.

On Saturday it will be lefty Michael Hearne taking the mound for Notre Dame. Through three starts in 2017 Hearne has a 1-1 record and a 4.35 ERA. Through 20.1 innings pitched on the season Hearne has allowed 21 hits and recorded 15 strike outs to just three walks.

For Sunday’s series finale it will be junior right handed pitcher Brad Bass starting on the mound for the Irish. Bass has started four games on the season and owns a record of 1-2 and an ERA of 4.00. Bass has logged the most innings of any Irish pitcher at 27. In those 27 innings Bass has given up 29 hits and recorded 32 strike outs to nine walks.

How to Watch

First pitch on Friday will be at 6:05 PM eastern, Saturday’s game will start at 4:05, and Sunday’s series finale will get underway at 1:05. All games will be available to stream on ACC Network Extra, you can listen locally on 106.1 FM or from anywhere by using the FSU Game Day app.

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