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Birdball Irish Weekend Series

bscrich
The Birds head to South Bend for a massive series this weekend. Losing 4/6 in b2b weekends is usually a tough blow in April, but when those series are against two of the top 10 teams in the country, its actually a positive here. Esp given the rash of injuries the Birds have been dealing with.

Next on the ACC tour is the Irish, who enter play at 17-18 and 2-16 in the ACC. That looks bad on paper, but ND sits at 47 in the RPI, bc they've played a similar ACC gauntlet schedule, and a decent OOC schedule. They also have only lost 2 OOC games, and those came in February, so in other words, this team is much better than their conference record would indicate. They have similar talent level here, and this will be a close series. Even w only 2 ACC wins (both at home vs Miami), a large number of 1 run games vs the likes of Clemson, FSU, NC State,

I mentioned in another thread that D1baseball had BC in before their midweek win over surging UConn, and BA had them amongst the 1st four out before their top 10 RPI win over Wake.
I usually start with the other team's preview, but I'll start with the Birds, and where they are currently.

From recent team photos, Barry Walsh doesn't have a soft cast on his hand anymore. He's about 7 weeks out from getting hit at UT Arlington, so I would think he has to be close. Cam Leary returned in about 4 weeks after breaking his hammet last year, and granted he had rust, getting Walsh back would be a big boost for their stretch run, and lengthen their lineup a bit more. Patrick Roche slide into 1st late in Sat's game vs Wake, he was shaken up, he didn't play Sun, and again on Weds, so that is something to watch for. He's a huge part of their lineup. Nick Wang sat out the 1st UConn game and hasn't looked right since. He hasn't hit a HR in a while, and isn't driving the ball like he was, and I think he's dealing with something.

Not sure what is up w Cohl Mercado, and at this point just assume he's out for the year. Joey Ryan obviously out at this point, and I am going to assume the worst until any morsel of news comes out- FWIW NE baseball Journal had him as one of their top 20 MLB draft prospects from New England b4 the season, and in their recent update, he was off the list, and I haven't seen him in any dugout shots all season. Tyler Mudd and Sean Hard are out too, to which degree, I am not sure, but the way I see it, if there is a chance either can pitch this year, it will be a bonus. Bobby Chicoine pitched an inning last week vs Dartmouth, he first inning since Siena. His stuff looks sharp, and I don't know if they were just easing him back after Siena, but would have to think he is someone that could be ready to pitch out of the pen done the stretch. We haven't seen Matt Nunan in a while, and he had really struggled, so I am not sure if he is down too, or performance based, I think we would have seen him in the midweeks to get back on track tho, so he might be down.

What Travis Lane, Evan Moore, Charlie Coon, Aidan Crowley, and Brad Lombardi are giving them now is impressive. These are guys, outside of Coon, that had under 5 innings the last 2 years, and they are giving them key innings in both the midweek, and the weekend.

Ok, now to the Irish:

Key players:
TJ Williams- A really good athletic OF, great defender with some pop, but does swing and miss a bit too.
Jack Penny- MA native, A SS grinder at that plate, leads their team in walks and runs. Has gap some power and one of their few lefty hitters.
David Glancy- St John's xfer leads them with 11 HRs
Estevan Moreno- Good power, had 7 HRs as a Frosh, 7 more this year, will strike out, but a mistake hitter, also has 14 doubles
Simon Baumgart- Tulane xfer also w 7 HRs, hit 13 last year
Connor Hinks- Lefty 1B with power, 4 triples this year, but offers good balance with Penny to the lineups, another player with high K totals.

On the mound:
Matt Bedford has been their Friday SP- the stuff is there, he can bump to mid 90s, he will walk batters, but has the type of stuff the lineup has struggled with recently.
Jack Radal- Is another mid 90s RHP. They haven't gotten the length from their rotation, but Radal has had 2 pretty good starts vs UNC and Clemson in a row, 2 of the best lineups in the ACC.
Their Sunday SP has rotated a bit.

In the pen Bennett Flynn is someone they will get multiple innings from. A Davidson xfer with a really sharp CB. Caden Spivey is another one they get multi innings from, another mid 90s RHP, They have some talented arms in their pen, but the one thing that stands out is, I don't think they have a lefty that's pitched more than an inning on their pitching staff. Cam Leary could have a big series as a result, and I think someone like Caraher, and Magpoc who has more power from the left could have some key late inning ABs.

Starts today at 6:30! Need a series win.
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Power time

D
He officially entered the portal. Assume obviously that BC will be in on him. Does he want the ball and all the shots that go with it, and be the center of the offense, then you would think BC has a shot. Does he want to play with a chance at postseason ball, then you would figure BC is not a match.

I know his season didn’t go great, but he is one year removed from a hot recruiting battle won by Duke. He would be a very important get for the program and Earl for multiple reasons.
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