BLACKSBURG – Coming off a difficult weekend against Duke, Virginia Tech baseball is looking towards its final regular season games against No. 8 Notre Dame with the series starting on Thursday at English Field at Atlantic Union Bank Park with all three games being broadcast on ACC Network Extra.
The Hokies (24-19, 16-16 ACC) and Fighting Irish (26-10, 22-10) will meet for the first time since April 22, 2018. Notre Dame leads the all-time series14-9 and are 3-4 at English Field at Atlantic Union Bank Park.
The Fighting Irish have won four of the last five matchups against the Hokies.
ON THE CALL
The matchup this weekend will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra with Evan Hughes (play-by-play) and Andrew Wells (analyst) on the call on Thursday and Bailey Angle (play-by-play) and Andrew Wells (analyst) on the call Friday and Saturday, while Bryant Johnson will broadcast on Virginia Tech Sports Network.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Thur. | 6 p.m. ET vs. Notre Dame | Watch | Stats
Fri. | 6 p.m. ET vs. Notre Dame | Watch | Stats
Sat. | 1 p.m. ET vs. Notre Dame | Watch | Stats
LAST TIME OUT
The Hokies struggled offensively at Duke last weekend but were led by three big starts from pitchers. Peyton Alford (2-4) threw 5.2 innings on Friday with eight strikeouts and no walks. Anthony Simonelli (5-1) also had an impressive day on Saturday striking out 10 Blue Devils in 7.2 innings. Chris Gerard (2-2) was one inning away from a complete game on Sunday with 10 strikeouts of his own.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Anthony Simonelli has been a superstar this season despite an injury early in the season. The junior has thrown 78 strikeouts this season, 10 of those against Duke on Saturday. He currently owns a 3.86 ERA this season and owns a 5-1 record.
SCOUTING NOTRE DAME
2021 Record: 26-10 (22-10)
Head Coach: Link Jarrett (37-12, 2nd season)
All-time series: 14-9
Notre Dame currently leads the ACC and the nation in fielding percentage (0.985). The Fighting Irish are second in the ACC in Win/Loss Percentage (0.722).
