Notre Dame taking veteran presence to College World Series

BY STEVE KRAH
http://www.IndianaRBI.com

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 Findlay received 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)

Taylor, IU Southeast, Marian, UIndy, Indiana Wesleyan among streaking teams

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

As winter has turned to spring, the hottest college baseball programs in the state — based on current win streaks — are at Taylor, Indiana University Southeast, Marian, Indianapolis and Indiana Wesleyan.

Among NAIA squads, there’s the Taylor Trojans (21-6) with 14 straight wins, IU Southeast Grenadiers (17-11) and Marian Knights (15-8) with eight each and Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats (21-8) with five. NCAA D-II’s UIndy Greyhounds (7-7) have six straight triumphs (including a 4-0 weekend series vs. Truman).

Among regulars, Conner Crawford (.357 with three home runs) paces the Taylor offense. Anderson High School graduate Joe Moran (5-2, 2.45 earned run average) is the Trojans’ top moundsman.

Brody Tanksley (.392 with seven homers) leads IU Southeast batters. Drew Hensley (4-2) is tops in pitching wins. Both are Bedford North Lawrence alums.

Hitter Matteo Porcellato (.329) and pitcher Kole Aping (4-0) have contributed to Marian’s success. Aping is a Beech Grove graduate.

M.J. Stavoia (.411) and Jon Young (4-0) are IWU stalwarts.

By the way, Crossroads League frontrunners Indiana Wesleyan (12-0) and Taylor (10-0) are slated to meet April 9 and 10 in doubleheaders at IWU.

Brandon DeWitt (.475) and Greenwood Community grad Reid Werner (2-1) have been key performers for Indianapolis.

Taylor (4-0 vs. Mount Vernon Nazarene), IU Southeast (3-0 at Ohio Christian), Marian (2-0 vs. Spring Arbor), UIndy (4-0 vs. Truman) and Indiana Wesleyan (4-0 at Goshen) are all coming off weekend series wins as are NAIA members Oakland City (11-11) 3-0 vs. Rio Grande and NCAA D-II’s Purdue Northwest (6-3) 3-0 vs. Wisconsin Parkside.

NCAA D-I series victors included Indiana State (11-6) 3-1 at Alabama-Birmingham, Indiana (9-2) 2-1 vs. Purdue, Notre Dame (9-3) 2-1 vs. Duke, Ball State (9-8) 3-1 vs. Western Michigan, Evansville (9-10) 2-1 at Butler and Purdue Fort Wayne (7-8) 3-1 vs. Oakland.

Max Wright is hitting .339 with four homers for Indiana State. Geremy Guerrero (4-0, 1.14) has been the Sycamores’ top pitcher.

Evansville Memorial graduate Drew Ashley (.395) and Carmel alum Tommy Sommer (2-0, 1.40) are among those who have shined for Indiana.

Ball State has been sparked by Adam Tellier (.429) and John Baker (2-1, 1.11).

Kenton Crews (Heritage Hills alum) became the first Evansville player during the NCAA D-I era to hit for the cycle when he produced a single, double, triple and home run in Sunday’s win at Butler.

Notre Dame played its first home games since 2019. Irish hitters led so far in 2021 by Jared Miller (.380 with three homers). Niko Kavadas (Penn graduate) is hitting .302 with seven homers. Starter John Michael Bertrand and reliever Liam Simon are both 3-0.

Purdue Fort Wayne regular and Hamilton Southeastern product Jack Lang (.354) is among the Mastodons’ leaders as is Jacob Myer (3-0, 1.61).

At the NCAA D-III level, Hanover (6-2) went 2-0 vs. Mount St. Joseph, Wabash (7-5) 4-0 vs. Trine, Anderson (6-4) 3-1 for the weekend — 1-1 at Earhlam Saturday and 2-0 vs. Bluffton Sunday.

INDIANA COLLEGE BASEBALL

Records Through March 21

NCAA Division I

Indiana State 11-6 (0-0 MVC) 

Indiana 9-2 (9-2 Big Ten) 

Notre Dame 9-3 (9-3 ACC) 

Ball State 9-8 (3-1 MAC) 

Evansville 9-10 (1-3 MVC) 

Purdue Fort Wayne 7-8 (4-4 HL) 

Valparaiso 4-9 (0-0 MVC) 

Butler 3-4 (0-0 Big East) 

Purdue 2-9 (2-9 Big Ten) 

NCAA Division II

Indianapolis 7-7 (6-2 GLVC) 

Purdue Northwest 6-3 (0-0 GLIAC) 

Southern Indiana 4-10 (2-6 GLVC) 

NCAA Division III

Earlham 7-3 (7-3 HCAC) 

DePauw 7-6 (0-0 NCAC) 

Hanover 6-2 (6-2 HCAC) 

Franklin 5-3 (5-3 HCAC) 

Wabash 7-5 (0-0 NCAC)

Rose-Hulman 4-3 (4-3 HCAC) 

Anderson 6-4 (6-4 HCAC) 

Manchester 3-7 (3-7 HCAC) 

Trine 0-9 (0-0 MIAA) 

NAIA

Indiana Wesleyan 21-8 (12-0 CL) 

Taylor 21-6 (10-0 CL) 

Indiana University Southeast 17-11 (8-0 RSC) 

Huntington 15-5 (8-4 CL) 

Marian 15-8 (8-2 CL) 

Saint Francis 14-11 (6-6 CL) 

Oakland City 11-11 (4-5 RSC) 

Indiana University-Kokomo 9-12 (3-6 RSC) 

Indiana Tech 8-13 (0-1 WHAC) 

Grace 8-13 (5-7 CL) 

Indiana University South Bend 6-12 (2-2 CCAC) 

Bethel 5-20 (2-10 CL) 

Calumet of Saint Joseph 1-11 (1-1 CCAC) 

Goshen 0-17 (0-12 CL) 

Junior College

Vincennes 12-6 (2-2 MWAC) 

Ivy Tech Northeast 10-12 

Ancilla 4-11 (0-0 MCCAA)