Published Jun 7, 2022
Previewing Tennessee's opponent in the Knoxville Super Regional: Notre Dame
Ben McKee  •  VolReport
Staff Writer

Tennessee completed a clean sweep over the weekend at Lindsey Nelson Stadium to win the Knoxville Regional.

The Vols beat Alabama State 10-0 on Friday night, Campbell 12-7 on Saturday night and then Georgia Tech 9-6 on Sunday night. They'll now host No. 17 Notre Dame in Super Regionals needing just two wins to advance to the College World Series in Omaha.

Here's everything you need to know about the Fighting Irish:

Knoxville Super Regional Schedule

Friday, June 10

Game 1 – No. 17 Notre Dame vs. No. 1 Tennessee, 6 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

Saturday, June 11

Game 2 – No. 17 Notre Dame vs. No. 1 Tennessee, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Sunday, June 12

Game 3 (if necessary) – No. 17 Notre Dame vs. No. 1 Tennessee, TBD (TBD)

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish (38-14, 16-11 ACC)

Regular Season Results | Team Stats and Leaders

Notre Dame's Projected Startling Lineup: (GS/GP)

Leadoff: LF, Ryan Cole, Gr. (50/50) — R/R

Season stats: .323 BA | .448 OBP | 9 HR | 33 RBI | 61 H | 44 R | 23 BB | 40 K | 20/21 SB | 2 E

All-ACC Third Team Outfielder — led the team in the regular season with steals (18) and ranks second in home runs (9) and hits (53)

2-Hole: RF, Brooks Coetzee III, Sr. (52/52) — R/R

Season stats: .274 BA | .356 OBP | 11 HR | 42 RBI | 55 H | 39 R | 14 BB | 36 K | 6/9 SB | 0 E

3-Hole: 1B, Carter Putz, Sr. (52/52) — R/R — team captain

Season stats: .330 BA | .388 OBP | .493 SLG | 6 HR | 42 RBI | 71 H | 49 R | 20 BB | 49 K | 4 E

4-Hole: DH, Jack Zyska, Sr. (32/39) — R/R

Season stats: .287 BA | .388 OBP | 11 HR | 33 RBI | 37 H | 31 R | 19 BB | 34 K | 0 E

5-Hole: C, David LaManna, Gr. (36/41) — R/R

Season stats: .359 BA | .430 OBP | 1 HR | 23 RBI | 47 H | 32 R | 13 BB | 20 K | 4/5 SB | 4 E

6-Hole: 3B, Jack Brannigan, Jr. (50/50) — R/R

Season stats: .298 BA | .364 OBP | 10 HR | 42 RBI | 57 H | 43 R | 17 BB | 42 K | 10/12 SB | 2 E

7-Hole: SS, Zack Prajzner, Sr. (52/52) — R/R

Season stats: .301 BA | .367 OBP | 6 HR | 34 RBI | 55 H | 43 R | 17 BB | 36 K | 11 E

8-Hole: 2B, Jack Penney, Fr. (18/36) — L/R

Season stats: .292 BA | .416 OBP | .597 SLG | 4 HR | 18 RBI | 21 H | 16 R | 12 BB | 23 K | 3 E

9- Hole: CF, Spencer Myers, Gr. (35/41) — S/R

Season stats: .232 BA | .333 OBP | 1 HR | 19 RBI | 29 H | 19 R | 19 BB | 18 K | 7/8 SB | 1 E

- has 63 steals in his Irish career and ranks seventh all-time in program history for career steals

Other Lineup Options: (min. 10 starts)

INF, Jared Miller, Gr. (38/39) — S/R — team captain

Season stats: .258 BA | .375 OBP | 3 HR | 22 RBI | 34 H | 30 R | 22 BB | 30 K | 8/11 SB | 4 E

C, Danny Neri, So. (17/25) — L/R

Season stats: .258 BA | .329 OBP | .435 SLG | 2 HR | 11 RBI | 16 H | 9 R | 5 BB | 13 K | 1 E

OF, TJ Williams, So. (14/26) — R/L

Season stats: .265 BA | .301 OBP | .412 SLG | 1 HR | 10 RBI | 18 H | 16 R | 3 BB | 15 K | 2 E

C/OF, Nick Juaire, R-So. (12/26) — S/R — TCU transfer

Season stats: .350 BA | .385 OBP | .517 SLG | 1 HR | 10 RBI | 21 H | 10 R | 4 BB | 10 K | 0 E

Thoughts on Notre Dame's lineup:

Notre Dame's offense isn't what Tennessee had its hands full with this past weekend when it welcomed the high-powered offenses of Campbell and Georgia Tech to town for the Knoxville Regional.

The Irish had a batting average of .296 during the regular season that ranked sixth out of 14 teams in the ACC. In addition, it tallied the fourth-fewest hits and the fourth-fewest runs on their way to the third-worst on-base percentage in the league as a result of ranking last in walks.

They don't hit for power either, finishing 10th in slugging percentage, 11th in total bases and 12th in home runs. Only three hitters have hit double-digit homers this year and team's leading slugger just has 11.

Notre Dame doesn't necessarily beat itself, however. It struck out the fewest times in the ACC and also grounded into the fewest double plays.

When the Irish do get on base, they like to run and they do it well. They ranked third in stolen bases, stealing 72 bags in 86 attempts. Four of Notre Dame's nine most frequent starters have stolen at least fave bases.

Potential Notre Dame Starting Pitchers (min. five starts)

Notre Dame’s Starters in Statesboro Regional:

Game 1 vs. Texas Tech: LHP, John Michael Bertrand, Gr. (16 appearances/16 starts) — Furman transfer

Season stats: 9-2 | 99.0 IP | 2.27 ERA | 83 H | 25 ER | 19 BB | 103 K | .223 b/avg

- Team captain and All-ACC First Team Pitcher two years in a row

- finished the regular season third in the ACC in ERA, fifth in innings pitched, sixth in wins and batting average against (.218) and seventh in strikeouts.

Game 2 vs. Georgia Southern: RHP, Austin Temple, Gr. (16 appearances/13 starts/2 saves) — Jacksonville transfer

Season stats: 4-1 | 65.0 IP | 3.46 ERA | 45 H | 25 ER | 31 BB | 86 K | .196 b/avg

Other Potential Starters: (pitchers who have started at least 5 games)

LHP, Jack Findlay, Fr. (8 starts/16 appearances/2 saves)

Season stats: 5-2 | 38.1 IP | 2.11 ERA | 27 H | 9 ER | 12 BB | 44 K | .196 b/avg

LHP, Aidan Tyrell, Sr. (5 starts/25 appearances/ 2 saves) — team captain

Season stats: 5-1 | 45.0 IP | 3.60 ERA | 47 H | 18 ER | 15 BB | 35 K | .266 b/avg

RHP, Liam Simon, Jr.(5 starts/14 appearances)

Season stats: 2-0 | 27.0 IP | 4.67 ERA | 18 H | 14 ER | 22 BB | 49 K | .182 b/avg

Thoughts on Notre Dame's starting pitching:

The Fighting Irish's pitching all starts with graduate student John Michael Bertrand. The Notre Dame ace led the team in wins (8), innings pitched (90.1), strikeouts (94) and ERA (2.39) among qualified starters to earn Third-Team All-American honors from Collegiate Baseball.

He surpassed his previous career-high in strikeouts this season to lead the Irish pitching staff that has set a program record for strikeouts in a single season. The Irish had 529 heading into the regional, breaking the previous record of 504 in 2006.

Bertrand tossed a complete game shutout against Central Michigan a year ago in regional play and pitched Notre Dame to wins over NC State, Florida State (twice), Clemson, Wake Forest and Pitt this year.

The lefty started game one of the Statesboro Regional, but a weather delay prevented him from continuing to pitch. It did allow Bertrand, however, to come back and start game three of the regional final where he led Notre Dame to a win over Texas Tech to advance.

Notre Dame's No. 2 starter — right-hander Austin Temple — also had a great season and will likely start game two against Tennessee on Saturday. Temple transferred to Notre Dame this past offseason after starting his collegiate career at Jacksonville.

The only question regarding Notre Dame's staff — like Tennessee — is who is going to start game three if it is played.

Freshman lefty Jack Findlay started on the weekend as the season progressed. He threw 44.1 innings, had a 5-1 record and 0.79 ERA with 83 strikeouts and just nine walks.

Notre Dame also has swing options in left-handers Aidan Tyrell and Will Mercer, as well as hard-throwing righty Liam Simon, who served as the team’s midweek starter during the second half of the season. Tyrell and Mercer both started in last year's South Bend Regional.

Bullpen Options for Notre Dame (min. 5.0 innings)

RHP, Alex Rao, Sr. (21 appearances/3 saves)

Season stats: 2-1 | 38.1 IP | 3.76 ERA | 25 H | 16 ER | 23 BB | 49 K | .181 b/avg

RHP, Ryan McLinsky, Gr. (14 appearances/3 saves) — Seton Hall transfer

Season stats: 0-1 | 26.0 IP | 2.42 ERA | 19 H | 7 ER | 8 BB | 39 K | .204 b/avg

- hasn’t made an appearance since mid-April

RHP, Roman Kimball, Fr. (16 appearances)

Season stats: 4-0 | 24.1 IP | 5.92 ERA | 19 H | 16 ER | 12 BB | 31 K | .211 b/avg

LHP, Will Mercer, Sr. (12 appearances/3 starts/1 save)

Season stats: 2-1 | 20.0 IP | 4.95 ERA | 21 H | 11 ER | 8 BB | 20 K | .284 b/avg

RHP, Radek Birkholz, Fr. (19 appearances/1 start)

Season stats: 1-0 | 18.0 IP | 5.50 ERA | 19 H | 11 ER | 13 BB | 27 K | .275 b/avg

RHP, Jackson Dennies, So. (18 appearances)

Season stats: 1-1 | 16.2 IP | 4.86 ERA | 16 H | 9 ER | 9 BB | 19 K | .258 b/avg

INF/RHP, Jack Brannigan, Jr. (11 appearances/1 start/2 saves)

Season stats: 2-2 | 14.2 IP | 7.36 ERA | 16 H | 12 ER | 8 BB | 28 K | .267 b/avg

RHP, Caden Aoki, Fr. (4 appearances)

Season stats: 0-2 | 9.1 IP | 3.86 ERA | 7 H | 4 ER | 2 BB | 10 K | .200 b/avg

RHP, Matt Bedford, So. (8 appearances)

Season stats: 1-0 | 8.1 IP | 6.48 ERA | 12 H | 6 ER | 3 BB | 11 K | .333 b/avg

LHP, Matt Lazzaro, Gr. (6 appearances) — Houston transfer

Season stats: 0-0 | 7.1 IP | 3.68 ERA | 7 H | 3 ER | 4 BB | 10 K | .233 b/avg

RHP, Sammy Cooper, So. (6 appearances)

Season stats: 0-0 | 5.1 IP | 6.75 ERA | 4 H | 4 ER | 4 BB | 5 K | .182 b/avg

Thoughts on Notre Dame's bullpen:

The versatility of Notre Dame's pitching staff is what makes it so good and what allowed them to find so much success throughout the regular season in the ACC

With Tyrell, Mercer and Simon pairing up with Bertrand, Temple and Findlay; the Notre Dame pitching staff compiled the lowest ERA (3.87) in the ACC and the lowest opponent batting average (.226).

It allowed the fewest hits, the fewest earned runs, the fewest walks, the fewest hit by pitches, the fewest doubles, the fewest home runs and was second in WHIP.

Senior right-hander Alex Rao is another arm called upon often. Rao can throw in the upper-90s and has a big changeup. Note Dame also relies on sophomore righty Matt Bedford.

Thoughts on Notre Dame's defense:

Notre Dame's defense is top-notch. The outfield covers a lot of ground and the left side of the infield — shortstop Zack Prajzner and third baseman Jack Brannigan — is as good as you'll find.

The Fighting Irish had the best defense in the ACC this season, committing the fewest errors (37) on their way to the best fielding percentage (.981).

They don't turn a lot of double plays, but that's because their pitchers don't allow anyone to reach base. And it's hard to run on the Irish. With David LaManna behind the dish, Notre Dame had the fourth-best stolen base against percentage (.659%).