ACC Baseball News & Notes: Notre Dame is the New #1 in the Country

Read Time:5 Minute, 38 Second

College baseball has a new number one team in the country, according to both Baseball America and Perfect Game. That team is the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. They become just the second team in the nation to be ranked #1 by Baseball America, the other is the Texas Longhorns. This is the third straight year that ND has gotten off to a hot start under head coach Link Jarrett. At 11-0, 2-0 in ACC, the Irish are off to their best start since 2015. They are the top-ranked team in the country for the first time since 2001. Let’s take a look at how the first weekend of ACC conference play went.

Since the start of the 2020 season, the Irish have a record of 56-16, a .778 winning percentage. They have the second-best percentage in the NCAA over that span of time. Only one team in the nation has a better mark than the Irish and they are the Tennessee Volunteers at .792. Notre Dame is riding a nine-game winning streak heading into this weekend thanks to a two-game sweep of North Carolina State on the road last weekend. One game was lost due to the weather. This weekend, the Irish head to Louisville (11-4, 0-0) for a three-game series. Pitching is a big reason why ND is off to such a good start. They have the second-best staff ERA in the league at 1.71. Three pitchers have an ERA that is less than two a game. Senior Austin Temple is at 1.71 with a 2-0 record in 21 innings pitched. He has given up four earned runs on nine hits, 27 strikeouts to nine walks. Senior John M. Bertrand has a 1.80 ERA and a 4-0 record in 25 innings pitched, with 19 hits, five earned runs, 28 SO, and three BB. Senior Aiden Tyrell 1.80 ERA 3-0 record in 20 innings, giving up 19 hits, four earned runs, 19 SO, and three BB.

Another team that is making a move up in the ranking is Virginia (14-1, 2-1). The Cavaliers are ranked at #5 in both D1 Baseball and Baseball America. They are a perfect 9-0 at home this season. In fact, Virginia has won nine of their last 10 ball games. They are the third-best pitching staff in the league at 1.75 ERA. The staff is led by junior Nate Savino who has a 3-0 record with a 1.21 ERA. 22 innings, 15 hits, three earned runs, 27 punchouts to only two walks. Savino has a complete game and shutout already to his credit. He is getting help from senior Brian Gursky, 4-0 record with a 2.14 ERA. 21 innings, 16 hits, five earned runs, 27 SO, eight walks. The third member of this trio is senior Brandon Neeck who has a 2-0 record with a 2.65 ERA, 17 innings, 10 hits, five earned runs, 18 SO, and nine walks.

Georgia Tech is the third member of the ACC that is rising up in the ranks, ranked at #6 in both D1 Baseball and Baseball America. The Yellow Jackets (13-3, 3-0) got off to a good start in conference play by sweeping their series last weekend at home against Virginia Tech (10-4, 0-3). The offense has been a key for the Yellow Jackets with two hitters off to very good starts with the bat for a team that is hitting .320 as a group. They ranked eighth in the nation with 28 HR, sixth with 188 hits, and 12th with 149 runs scored. Sophomore Chandler Simpson is second in the league in hitting with a .468 BA (29-for-62). He has scored 24 runs, stolen 10 bases, and been caught three times. With only three extra-base hits, he has 13 walks to his credit. Simpson is not a power guy, instead, he knows how to get on base and let others drive him in. One of those RBi guys is sophomore catcher Kevin Parada with a .455 BA, (30-for-66) eight HR, and 28 RBI. He is slugging .909 on the year. Has 21 runs scored to go along with those RBI. MLB scouts are paying close attention to Parada because of his ability with the bat and behind the plate. A problem for Georgia Tech going forward could be their pitching, which at the moment has an ERA of 4.76.

The best pitching staff in the country belongs to the North Carolina Tar Heels (14-2, 3-0) They post a 1.70 ERA, and have won 18 games in a row at home in Chapel Hill, which dates back to the final four home games of last season. It marks the program’s most consecutive wins at home since 2016 when the Tar Heels won 26 straight between 2018 (18) and 2019 (8). The top two pitchers in the conference wear Carolina blue. Sophomore Max Carlson is 1-0 with an 0.52 ERA in 17 innings. He has given up 11 hits, one earned run, and 20 SO to five walks. His batting average against is .180. Junior Kyle Mott is 4-0 with a 1.08 ERA in 16.2 innings, haven given up 10 hits, two earned runs, 25 SO, and six walks. Opponents are hitting .164 and he has allowed one long ball.

The ACC Player of the Week is senior outfielder Levi Usher of Louisville. He went 9-for-15 (.600) with two doubles, one triple, and one home run. He had four runs scored, and was a perfect 6-for-6 on stolen bases. All this in a 3-1 week for the Cardinal that saw them win a series from Michigan, and get a win over #15 TCU. Usher had at least one run scored and one stolen base in each of the four games played last week. In Sunday’s win over the Wolverines, Usher had three hits and was a double shy of hitting for the cycle.

The ACC pitcher of the Week is Nate Savino. He had a complete-game shutout of Duke on March 11. He needed 103 pitches to get it done. He threw a five-hit gem, in which he never allowed a runner to reach second base. He finished the performance by retiring the last 10 Blue Devil batteries he faced. He became the sixth pitcher this season to throw a complete-game shutout and the first for Virginia since Derek Casey in 2018 vs Virginia Tech.

That’s it for this week. We will be back next week with more from ACC baseball.