Irish Breakdown

Notre Dame Baseball Takes Two Of Three From Duke to Open ACC Play

Notre Dame baseball has won seven of its last eight games after taking two of three from Duke over the weekend to begin ACC play.
Jared Shlensky|
Jan 9, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; General view of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish logo before the game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium.
Jan 9, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; General view of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish logo before the game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Notre Dame baseball is officially playing its best brand of baseball over the last two weeks. Last weekend, the Fighting Irish went a perfect 3-0 in the Tennessee Tech Holiday Inn Classic, and this weekend, ND took two of three from Duke to begin ACC play.

The Fighting Irish won the first game of the series, 10-4, on Friday before falling to the Blue Devils, 6-5, on Saturday in the middle game of the series. However, ND claimed the series after shutting out Duke, 2-0, on Sunday in the rubber game.

Notre Dame was more than capable of sweeping the series, but in game two, Duke scored three unearned runs in the bottom of the ninth to complete the walk-off win.

Still, though, sweeps are hard, and winning any series, especially a conference series, is a lot to be proud of. Here are two things that stood out in ND's series win.

Jack Radel and Ty Uber are a dynamic 1-2 punch

Notre Dame's pitching has had its ups and downs, especially early in the season, but Jack Radel and Ty Uber have clearly established themselves as the team's top two starting pitchers.

Uber is 3-0 in four starts and has an ERA under one (0.96) after tossing 5.2 shutout innings against Duke on Sunday. Before Sunday's start, Uber wasn't known for his swing and miss stuff, but he did fan a season-high eight against the Blue Devils.

Uber struggled in his first three seasons of college at Stanford, but it seems like he's found himself after transferring.

Meanwhile, Jack Radel picked up his second win of the season after allowing just one run over seven innings in Friday's series opener. Unlike Uber, Radel continues to consistently miss bats after striking out nine. In 23 innings, Radel has struck out 33 hitters, and maybe even more impressive, Radel has walked just five hitters in 23 innings of work.

If Notre Dame has any shot at competing for an ACC Championship, the Fighting Irish will need both Radel and Uber to continue to pitch at an elite level.

Mark Quatrani continues to mash

Mark Quatrani is playing like one of the best catchers in all of college baseball after hitting another home run over the weekend for the Irish.

Through 13 games, Quatrani has five home runs and still leads the Irish in just about every offensive category. Quatrani has arguably been the most important player this year for Notre Dame, and as long as the catcher continues to hit, ND's offense is going to be dangerous.

Next up

Notre Dame's next game is on Tuesday against Queens University of Charlotte. First pitch is at 6 p.m. (ET) and is available via ESPN+.

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Jared Shlensky
JARED SHLENSKY

Jared Shlensky is a contributing writer for On SI and a freelance play-by-play broadcaster. Jared was previously a sports betting writer for Yardbarker, an On-Air YouTube Personality for the Sports Geek and a minor league play-by-play broadcaster

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