Fighting Irish baseball facing the number one seed in back to back Super Regional appearances

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind -- The Notre Dame men's baseball team is headed to Super Regionals this weekend to face the number one seed, Tennessee Volunteers.

The last time the Irish faced a number one seed in the Super Regionals and came out successful, was in 2002 when they faced Florida State on the road.

“It’ll be great to follow in their footsteps and try to go down there and do the exact same thing,” said Outfield Ryan Cole.

“You’re just trying to find a way to win one game and then you turn your attention to the next game,” said Head Coach Link Jarrett.

Heading into the post-season, things got ugly in game one of Regionals versus Texas Tech, with starting pitcher John Michael Bertrand on the bump for one inning.

“When we got that lightning delay, we were like this is the worst thing that could possibly happen” Jarrett said.

A 6-hour delay, that put Bertrand on the bench for the remainder of the game but eventually helped in the long run, being able to use him twice in the tournament.

“You went from feeling like, this is the worst thing that could possibly happen, to is this the best thing that can possibly happen,” Link added.

Now that the Irish have moved on, it’s one game at a time, in a best of three series, in Knoxville.

“If I were them I would be a little scared. I think we’re a very dangerous team,” Cole said.

Dangerous, resilient, experienced, all of the above.

Either way, the Irish believe they have what it takes to show up the nation’s top seeded team and punch their ticket to the College World Series.

“We don’t have to match their season, we just have to find a creative way to win two of these games. That’s my message,” Jarrett said.

“That’s the goal from day one and since we stepped out on the field in the fall day one, that’s what everyone’s goal on our team and we all know that we’re complete capable of it and we’re excited to go show what we’re made of,” Cole said.

Game one of the three game series begins Friday at 6 p.m.