Notre Dame has one of the oldest lineups in NCAA Division I college baseball. After a second-straight regional championship, the Link Jarrett-coached Fighting Irish (40-15) beat No. 1-ranked and overall top seed Tennessee 2-1 in the three-game super regional held in Knoxville, Tenn. (8-6 win June 10, 12-4 loss June 11, 7-3 win June 12) to earn a berth in the 2022 College World Series. The event runs June 16-27 in Omaha, Neb. The Notre Dame starting lineup in the super regional clincher featured righty-swinging left fielder Ryan Cole (22), switch-hitting second baseman Jared Miller (23), righty-swinging first baseman Carter Putz (22), designated hitter Jack Zyska (22), righty-swinging catcher David LaManna (23), third baseman Jack Brannigan (21), righty-swinging shortstop Zack Prajzner (22), righty-swinging right fielder Brooks Coetze (22), switch-hitting center fielder Spencer Myers (23) and right-handed pitcher Liam Simon (21). Cole, Miller, LaManna and Myers are all graduate students. Putz, Prajzner and Coetze are seniors. Brannigan and Simon are juniors. Ace John Michael Bertrand (24) started Game 2 against Tennessee. Usual No. 2 weekend starter Austin Temple (22) took the ball for Game 1 to keep Bertrand on his usual rest. Lefty-hander Bertrand and righty Temple are both graduate students. On Wednesday, Bertrand, Brannigan and ND left-hander Jack Findlayreceived All-American honors — Bertrand second team by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, Branigan third team by Perfect Game and Findlay second team by PG. The last time Notre Dame went to Omaha was 2002 when the Irish went 2-2 and were eliminated by semifinalist Stanford in a year when Texas won the national championship. Bertrand, who was born in 1998, was not yet 4. Texas (47-20) is Notre Dame’s opponent in CWS Game 2 of Bracket 1 at 7 p.m. Friday, June 17. The Longhorns won the Greenville Super Regional with a Game 3 starting combination against host East Carolina featuring four redshirt seniors, two redshirt juniors, three redshirt sophomores and one sophomore. Texas A&M (42-18) plays Oklahoma (42-22) in Game 1 of Bracket 1 at 2 p.m. Friday. In Bracket 2 on Saturday, June 18, it’s Stanford (47-16) vs. Arkansas (43-19) at 2 and Ole Miss (37-22) vs. Auburn (42-20) at 7. The double-elimination phase goes through June 23 with the best-of-three finals June 25-27. Anderson (Ind.) High School graduate Michael Early is the Texas A&M hitting coach. Jarrett is in his second season leading Notre Dame. He began establishing his system in the fall of 2019. He has continued to share his ideas about building complete hitters and has talked about what it means to be a coach. College World Series games will air and be streamed by ESPN.
John Michael Bertrand (University of Notre Dame Photo)
The Mighty Oaks of Oakland City University swing some mighty potent bats in improving to 11-4 on the 2022 baseball season. OCU went 6-1 for the Week of Feb. 21-27 and collected 49 hits — 16 for extra bases — in a four-game sweep of Grace Christian. Chandler Dunn (.533, 12 runs batted in, 16 runs scored), Noah Baugher (.419, 11 R), Payton Hall (Benton Central High School graduate) (.400, 17 R), Treven Madden (2 home runs, 12 RBIs), Sam Pinckert (Heritage Hills) (2 HR, 16 RBIs, 12 R), Bailey Falkenstien (Jeffersonville) (2 HR), Gehrig Tenhumberg (Evansville Reitz) (2-0, 2.70 earned run average, 23 strikeouts, 3 walks, 20 innings) and Milan VanDerBreggen (2-1, 2.38, 15 K’s, 1 base on balls, 11 1/3 IP) are among leaders for Andy Lasher-coached Mighty Oaks. Oakland City went 17-27 in 2021. In other NAIA play, Taylor — coached by Kyle Gould — moved to 9-6 with a 3-1 week. On the season, offensive leaders include T.J. Bass (Greenwood Community) (.356 average, 5 HR, 26 RBIs), Kaleb Kolpien (Homestead) (.474, 12 RBIs) and Camden Knepp (Northridge) (12 RBIs). On the mound, Matt Duktowski (NorthWood) is 2-0 with 16 K’s and three walks over 15 1/3 innings. Todd Bacon-coached Marian went 2-2 for the week and is 8-6. For the season, A.J. Bordenet (Lafayette Central Catholic) (.458, 11 RBIs), Jackson Hogg (.390), Bryce Davenport (.350, 3 HR, 10 RBIs), Kato Hironori (2 HR) and Brodie Rinehold (Franklin Community) (2 HR) are among top batsmen. Pitcher Damien Wallace (Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter) has made four starts and is 3-0 with 3.05 ERA, 24 K’s and eight walks in 20 2/3 innings. Some other NAIA performers: Indiana University Southeast — Trevor Campbell (.364) and Brody Tanksley (Bedford North Lawrence) (4 HR, 10 RBIs); Indiana Tech — Jacob Daftari (Hamilton Southeastern) (.471) and Manuel Ascanio (.407); Indiana University-Kokomo — Dylan Steele (Bloomington North) (.357) and Ben Harris (Northwestern) (2-1, 2.08, 13 K’s, 10 BB, 13 IP); Grace — Alex Rich (Crown Point) (.395, 11 RBIs), Chris Griffin (.375, 10 RBIs), Sam Newkirk (3 HR, 11 RBIs) and Austin Carr (Franklin Central) (10 RBIs); Bethel — Andrew Sarno (.474), Jake Schlasky (Crown Point) (10 RBIs), Jeremy Wiersema (9 RBIs, 7-of-8 on stolen bases) and Frank Plesac (Crown Point) (2-1, 2.55, 21 K’s, 5 BB, 17 2/3 IP); and Goshen — Morgan Baker (2 HR in Game 1 vs. Brescia). NCAA Division I Purdue is off to an 8-0 start. Led by Curtis Washington Jr. (7-of-7) and Evan Albrecht (6-of-6), the Boliermakers are 35-of-35 in stolen base attempts. Albrecht (.462), Washington (.375), Cam Thompson (13 RBIs) and Jackson Smeltz (McCutcheon) (2-0, 1.07, 18 K’s, 4 BB, 9 1/3 IP) are among the hot Boilermakers, which are coached by Greg Goff. Some other top NCAA D-I performers: Notre Dame — Ryan Cole (.500, 6 RBI, 5-5 SB), Brooks Coetze (2 HR), Carter Putz (8 RBI), Jack Brannigan (6 RBI), Aidan Tyrell (2-0, 0.00, 11 K’s, 3 BB, 11 IP) and John Michael Bertrand (2-0. 0.69, 19 K’s, 1 BB, 13 IP; Indiana State — Jordan Schaffer (West Vigo) (.414), Diego Gines (.407), Mike Sears (2 HR), Parker Stinson (Yorktown) (9 RBI), Miguel Rivera (6 RBI), Sean Ross (6 RBI) and Matt Jachec (2-0. 1.35, 13 K’s, 0 BB, 13 1/3 IP); Valparaiso — Kaleb Hannahs (West Vigo) (.474, 2 HR, 7 runs), Alex Thurston (.353), Kyle Schmack (South Central of Union Mills) (.333, 5 RBIs) and Colin Fields 1-0, 1.64, 15 K’s, 5 BB, 11 IP); Butler — Travis Holt (.478, 7 R, 5-6 SB), James Gargano (7 RBIs), Cole McDaniel (1-0, 2.25) and Derek Drees (0-0, 2 games, 10 K’s, 3 BB, 5 IP); Ball State — Amir Wright (Griffith) (.333); Indiana — Bobby Whalen (.391, 4 RBI, 5-5 SB), Matthew Ellis (2 HR) and Braydon Tucker (Northview) (0-1, 1.93, 2 appearances, 5 K, 5 BB, 4 2/3 IP); Evansville — Mark Shallenberger (.304) and Nick Smith (Boonville) (0-1, 1.61, 9 1/3 IP); and Purdue Fort Wayne — Alex Evenson (.320) and Jack Lang (Hamilton Southeastern) (.310, 6 RBIs). Tracy Archuleta-coached Southern Indiana is out of the gate at 6-0. The Screaming Eagles have been led by Lucas McNew (Borden) (.455, 2 HR, 13 RBIs through 5 games), Ethan Hunter (Terre Haute South Vigo) (11 RBIs) and Brice Stuteville (South Spencer) (0-0, 1.42, 3 games, 8 K’s, 0 BB, 6 1/3 IP). Other top NCAA D-II performers: Indianapolis — Alex Vela (Cardinal Ritter) (.478, 6 RBIs, 11 R, 5-7 SB), Caleb Vaughan (Lawrence North) (.409, 10 R), Drew Donaldson (8 RBI) and Xavier Rivas (Portage) (1-0, 1.93, 2 games, 23 K’s, 6 BB, 14 IP). In NCAA Division III, the Adam Rosen Era began at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology with the Fightin’ Engineers winning both of the first-year head coach’s first two games. Adam Taylor (Perry Meridian) (5 RBI’s), Josh Mesenbrink (4 RBI’s), Brett Tuttle (1 HR, 5 R) and Ian Kline (1-0, 1.50, 4 2/3 IP) are among the RHIT leaders. Other top NCAA D-III performers: Earlham — Cameron McCabe (.500), Zach Swearingen (.500), Andrew Bradley (.500), Maxwell Fries (8 RBIs) and Keodon Kuderer (6 R); Franklin — Logan Demkovich (Munster) (2 HR); DePauw — Evan Barnes .588 through 4 games), Cameron Macon .563, 2 HR, 9 RBIs, 8 R) and Cameron Allen (9 R); Wabash — Liam Patton (Warsaw) (.800 3 2B, 3 RBIs), Camden Scheidt (Highland) (.500), Reese Bauer (Northeast Dubois) (.500) and Dylan Scheid (Lawrence North) (0-0, 1.50, 1 game, 8 Ks, 0 BB, 6 IP); Anderson — Jake Stank (Mount Vernon of Fortville) (.444) and Tyler Smitherman (Westfield) (2 HR); and Manchester — Brady Perez (Rochester) (2 HR, 4 RBIs). In junior college, Vincennes U.’s Colton Evans is hitting .465 and Connor VanLannen is 1-1 with a 1.80 ERA and 18 K’s in 15 innings.
Friday, Feb. 25 UNC-Wilmington 2, Ball State 0 Butler 6, Jackson State 5 Arkansas 5, Indiana 2 Indiana State 14, Merrimack 2 Notre Dame 20, Marist 2 Purdue 9, Princeton 3 Purdue 8, Princeton 3 California Baptist 4, Purdue Fort Wayne Valparaiso 9, Alabama A&M 2 Valparaiso 3, Alabama A&M 2
Saturday, Feb. 26 Middle Tennessee 1, Ball State 0 Butler 10, Prairie View 1 Butler 9, Jackson State 1 Evansville 11, Dayton 2 Indiana 12, Louisiana-Lafayette 4 Indiana State 16, Minnesota 3 Notre Dame 16, Monmouth 2 Notre Dame 9, Monmouth 0 Purdue 4, Princeton 3 Purdue 5, Princeton 4 California Baptist 23, Purdue Fort Wayne 5 California Baptist 5, Purdue Fort Wayne 3
Sunday, Feb. 27 Coastal Carolina 7, Ball State 2 Dayton 4, Evansville 2 Dayton 5, Evansville 4 Stanford 13, Indiana 0 Indiana State 14, Minnesota 8 Purdue Fort Wayne vs. California Baptist
NCAA D-II Saturday, Feb. 26 Northwood 11, Indianapolis 6 Northwood 5, Indianapolis 4 Southern Indiana 12, Lake Erie 4
Sunday, Feb. 27 Northwood 9, Indianapolis 4 Southern Indiana 8, Lake Erie 3
NCAA D-III Wednesday, Feb. 23 Centre 9, Hanover 1
Saturday, Feb. 26 Otterbein 8, Anderson 3 Baldwin Wallace 9, DePauw 8 Franklin 20, Albion 1 North Central 15, Manchester 5 Hope 16, Manchester 5 Wabash 3, Heidelberg 2 Maryville 4, Hanover 1 Earlham 20, Olivet 4 Earlham 9, Olivet 4 Asbury 5, Trine 4 Asbury 5, Trine 1
Sunday, Feb. 27 Baldwin Wallace 9, Anderson 4 DePauw 10, Transylvania 4 Earlham 10, Olivet 9 Franklin 11, Albion 6 Franklin 11, Albion 5 Wabash 15, Otterbein 5 Rose-Hulman 14, North Vermont-Lyndon 1 Rose-Hulman 12, North Vermon-Lyndon 11 Trine 3, Asbury 1
NAIA Monday, Feb. 21 Bethel 5, Oakland City 3 Oakland City 5, Bethel 4 (8 inn.) IU-Kokomo 5, Calumet of Saint Joseph 2 IU-Kokomo 5, Calumet of Saint Joseph 1 Indiana Tech 4, Indiana Wesleyan 3 Indiana Wesleyan 6, Indiana Tech 3 Marian 11, Georgetown 9
Wednesday, Feb. 23 Oakland City 9, Asbury 2
Thursday, Feb. 24 Bethel 11, Toccoa Falls 7
Friday, Feb. 25 Toccoa Falls 7, Bethel 1 Faulkner 3, Indiana Wesleyan 2 Indiana Wesleyan 4, Faulkner 3 Marian 9, Edward Waters 5 Edward Waters 8, Marian 7 Edward Waters 2, Marian 1 Taylor 8, Olivet Nazarene 6 Olivet Nazarene 2, Taylor 1
Saturday, Feb. 26 Bethel 4, Toccoa Falls 0 Bethel 4, Toccoa Falls 3 Faulkner 8, Indiana Wesleyan 4 Faulkner 4, Indiana Wesleyan 3 Oakland City 13, Grace Christian 1 Oakland City 13, Grace Christian 4 Saint Francis 7, IU South Bend 5 Saint Francis 7, IU South Bend 6 Taylor 11, Olivet Nazarene 1 Taylor 9, Olivet Nazarene 5
Sunday, Feb. 27 Brescia 5, Goshen 4 Brescia 8, Goshen 5 Oakland City 11, Grace Christian 1 Oakland City 26, Grace Christian 0 Indiana Tech 6, IU Kokomo 2 Indiana Tech 7, IU Kokomo 5
Junior College Monday, Feb. 21 Vincennes 10, Marian’s Ancilla 2 Vincennes 3, South Suburban 1
Saturday, Feb. 26 Clark State 4, Marian’s Ancilla 3 Clark State 9, Marian’s Ancilla 4
Sunday, Feb. 27 Marian’s Ancilla 10, Clark State 9 Clark State 7, Marian’s Ancilla 3 Morton 10, Vincennes 5 Joliet 10, Vincennes 3
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