BASEBALL Irish take two of three vs. UNCG

By TYLER REIDY sports Writer

Though it was far from pretty, n otre d ame baseball took its first series over the weekend. Playing at n orth c arolina-Greensboro, the Irish were outscored by seven runs overall, but survived close games Friday and s unday. With the result, n otre d ame now sits at 3-3 as February draws to a close.

Friday: Notre Dame 6, UNCG 5 recorded more errors (five) than hits (three), walking seven s partans and plunking four more. m eanwhile, U nc G freshman starter Jay m iller tossed a gem, working a shutout over seven innings. The s partan offense rewarded him with a field day at the plate, highlighted by backto-back bombs from sophomore infielder r owan Watt and c allahan in the third. Junior Jackson d ennies suffered the loss, surrendering three runs in two innings to start the game.

After hitting .110 in the Lipscomb series, the Irish offense came out swinging. e ach of n otre d ame’s first six hitters reached in the top of the first with the help of two s partan errors. b y the inning’s end, four runs had crossed home plate. Irish sophomore starting pitcher r adek b irkholz nearly sold the early lead, but he escaped a bases-loaded jam with nobody out in the bottom of the first.

Sunday: Notre Dame 7, UNCG 4 the day, we’re people, and performance doesn’t dictate the person that stands in that jersey.” o rozco also quickly befriended current Irish graduate pitcher Payton Tidd, a fellow s an m arcos native. Tidd’s family became an important link as o rozco navigated the recruiting process. Long before the two ever led s an m arcos h igh s chool to a state title, their college offers began rolling in. At age thirteen, o rozco had narrowed her search to Utah and Utah s tate, ultimately committing to the latter.

“I think what led me to Utah s tate as a 13-year-old, and I tell this story to everyone, is that it came down to the decision of wearing n ike or Under Armour, and I told my dad I wanted to wear n ike,” she said. “From an early age, I knew that Utah s tate was right for me because it checked everything off with my 13-year-old brain.”

Though o rozco may now sheepishly look back on the decision, it turned out to be a good one. As a freshman, she logged 46 starts. b y the end of her four years in Logan, she had played 169 games as the Aggies’ primary shortstop.

“There were a lot of older girls in front of me, and the only thing I knew that I could rely on was to compete and compete respectfully,” o rozco said. “I think that’s what landed me where I was for my whole career. I never looked back once I kept moving forward through all the ups and downs.” o rozco earned a First-Team All-mountain West selection in 2019, following it up with an nc FA d ivision I Third Team All-r egion honor in 2022. With four magnificent seasons behind her, o rozco knew she could thrive anywhere heading into her graduate season.

In o rozco’s case, the ups were numerous. d uring her illustrious career, she set or tied Aggie records for rbI (138), slugging percentage (.631) and home runs (39).

That “anywhere” was originally supposed to be a lot closer to the s an d iego area. e ven as coach Gumpf welcomed her for a visit, see oroZco PAGE 14 b irkholz finished the day with three scoreless innings. h owever, his offense failed to add on, and n otre d ame soon paid for it. With graduate student Aidan Tyrell on the mound, U nc G loaded the bags without recording a hit. After a run-scoring sacrifice fly, senior catcher d allas c allahan crushed a threerun homer to right-center, tying the game at four.

The next two innings passed without a score, as sophomore reliever Jack Findlay settled things down for the Irish. n otre d ame needed a big hit, and it came in the top of the ninth. Graduate infielder c arter Putz opened with a single, drawing junior catcher d anny n eri to the dish with one out. Though he entered the game with just two career home runs, n eri got a hold of one. When the ball landed over the right field fence, he had given n otre d ame a 6-4 lead. Findlay surrendered a run and made matters interesting before stranding two s partans in scoring position to end the game.

Saturday: Notre Dame 0, UNCG 12

Game two proved to be a forgettable one for the Irish. Allowing a run in seven of eight innings pitched, n otre d ame suffered its most lopsided regular season loss in over four years. The Irish d espite the shutout, n otre d ame’s bats were no worse for the wear on s unday. Graduate outfielder b rooks c oetzee wasted no time, starting the action with a first-inning rb I single. In the fifth, the Irish lead ballooned to five on n eri’s second key hit of the series, a two-run single with two outs. U nc G then promptly minimized the deficit to 5-3 on a threerun blast from junior infielder d osi Jonas, which forced Irish graduate transfer starter b lake h ely from the game.

While the Irish hitters rebuilt the lead to four, junior pitcher m att b edford carved up the s partans in the middle innings. h e worked three scoreless frames, striking out four in the process. h ead coach s hawn s tiffler removed him entering the ninth, and things got dicey again. U nc G again drew a run back, requiring graduate c arter b osch to earn the final out with the tying run up to bat. h e wrapped it up on a called third strike, securing n otre d ame’s first series win of 2023.

With graduate outfielder Jack Zyska still healing from an injury in the field, n otre d ame’s veterans stepped up. Zack Prajzner, c oetzee, and Putz combined to go 11for-30 at the dish. The three mainstays from the c ollege World s eries lineup also scored seven of the 13 Irish runs.

In their final tune-up before Acc play begins, n otre d ame will visit UA b from m arch 3-5. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 3 p.m. es T.

Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu an intriguing potential matchup for the irish, as Wes moore’s squad was one of just three acc opponents to deal notre dame a loss in conference play. north carolina state also dumped the irish out of the ncaa tournament last year, with notre dame’s upset bid over the top-seeded Wolfpack falling just short in the final seconds of the sweet 16. head coach niele ivey — named acc coach of the year Tuesday afternoon — was unsurprisingly full of praise for the Wolfpack in her media availability before the irish left for Greensboro.

“They’ve got great size. They’ve got an incredible point guard in diamond Johnson. They have depth, they play multiple players off the bench and they really bothered us with their pressure,” she said. “i thought they were physical … we have to be prepared to contain the ball, to try and get an inside presence against their bigs. They have so many weapons.” ivey also made sure to give plaudits to potential foe syracuse. Though notre dame twice pulled away late to deal the orange a pair of defeats in conference play this season, Felisha Legette-Jack gave ivey all she could handle.

With syracuse currently fighting for a spot on the ncaa tournament bubble, ivey remarked on being ready to play against a team with a serious hunger for victory.

“They’re playing desperate and playing really well,” ivey said. “[Legette-Jack] has done a phenomenal job turning that program around. They’re more of a matchup team, so we’ll expect them to sit in that matchup zone for 40 minutes. They like to extend their pressure and press full court … playing them two times, we know what to expect and what to do playing against their zone. They’re very athletic, we have to do a great job of containing their guards.” regardless of the opponent, the irish’s story will almost certainly be the availability of sophomore point guard olivia miles. miles, an all-acc selection who just missed winning conference player of the year, is notre dame’s current leader in points, rebounds and assists. against Louisville sunday, miles left the game with what was later reported to be a knee injury and was unable to return. however, ivey was non-committal about what her status might be with regards to a return window. she stressed that more tests needed to be done before notre dame could determine the severity of miles’ injury and what her timetable to re-enter the irish rotation might look like. notre dame’s acc tournament run will tip off on Friday at 2 p.m. in Greensboro, north carolina. The irish will play either north carolina state or syracuse, and the contest will be broadcast on the acc network.

Contact J.J. Post at jpost2@nd.edu it is also s enior n ight for one of the most prolific classes in notre d ame history. The i rish will honor six graduate students Wednesday night. Guard d ane Goodwin and forward nate Laszewki, in particular, have become stalwarts in the i rish lineup since their arrival in 2018. r obby c armody came in as part of the same class but was never able to live up to his lofty expectations due to what seemed like one injury after another over the past five years. c armody played three minutes off the bench against Wake Forest last weekend in only the third conference game of his career. c armody’s trajectory — through no fault of his own — mirrors that of notre d ame as a program over the last five years. a fter qualifying for the ncaa Tournament for three straight, including two e lite e ight appearances from 2015 to 2017, expectations were high for the i rish’s 2018 recruiting class. The class was ranked 15th in the nation according to 247 s ports.

“i n the midst of everything, that was really cool to see him against Wake Forest in an acc game,” b rey said.

While some members of that class, notably Goodwin, Laszewski and Prentiss hubb, who graduated a year ago, found unquestioned individual success in s outh b end, as a whole, the group fell well short of what was expected of them. The i rish qualified for just one ncaa Tournament in five years, when they advanced to the r ound of 32 as an 11-seed a year ago.

With the three remaining members of that class graduating Wednesday represents the end of an era in s outh b end in more ways than one. not only will notre d ame have a new coach next year, but the roster will be completely overhauled. a win Wednesday night would go a long way towards giving b rey and the seniors a proper send-off for all they’ve accomplished in s outh b end, particularly in a year in which victories have been nearly impossible for the i rish to come by over the past two months. b ut standing in the way of that goal is a formidable opponent. Pittsburgh broke into the a P Poll for the first time in seven years this week, following a torrid stretch that has seen them rise to the top of the conference standings. The Panthers have won eight of their last nine games and are currently in sole possession of first place in the acc b ut win or lose, b rey will be soaking up every moment of his last game at Purcell Pavilion. “i ’ve got no regrets,” he said. “i ’ve been honored to be the guy here.”

The i rish will honor three other seniors who transferred into the program. Guard c ormac r yan and guard Trey Wertz, who transferred from s tanford and s anta c lara, respectively, have each been key team members of the program for the past three seasons. m arcus h ammond joined the team more recently as a graduate transfer from n iagara this offseason.

“i ’d start six if i could,” b rey said of the squad.

To make matters worse for notre d ame, b rey said Tuesday that star freshman guard JJ s tarling will be unavailable for the second straight contest with a bruised knee, making an already thin i rish rotation even thinner.

Contact Liam Coolican at lcoolica@nd.edu o rozco had doubts about nearly tripling her distance from home. h owever, while reflecting on her trip to s outh b end, o rozco drew two powerful conclusions.

“ i realized that a year of my life is worth challenging myself to the fullest of extents,” she remembered. “ o nce i decided that i was going to step onto n otre d ame’s campus, i knew i ’d be happy here if i wasn’t playing.” o rozco has also felt much more at ease within the i rish batting order. While she often had to play hero ball at u tah s tate, the slugger now sits within an offense that led the acc in batting average a year ago. “ i knew that i was going to have to compete hard because this program has talent across the board, and it excites me,” o rozco said. “ i t’s so amazing to have the opportunity to sit in the middle of that lineup because i know that three girls in front of me or one girl behind me will get the job done no matter what.” o rozco has used that peace of mind to contribute early and often at the plate. Three weeks into the season, she leads the i rish with three homers and 12 rbi a mong her many tools, timely hitting has perhaps been her strongest to start the campaign. o n February 17, o rozco helped n otre d ame win its b ig Ten and acc c hallenge opener by launching a go-ahead, three-run blast in the fourth inning. Then, on Friday, she completed a six-run comeback with a three-run, game-tying shot against u T m artin. h er talent has stood out, but her leadership also hasn’t gone without notice.

With that, o rozco was off to n otre d ame, a program on a 23-year ncaa tournament appearance streak. h er transition has been marked by overwhelming support from her head coach, her lifelong friend and everyone in between.

“ s he’s just a great person and she fit so well right away,” c oach Gumpf remarked. “ s he just jumped on board and truly understands what this place is all about. i ’m super, super proud of her.” o f course, coming to n otre d ame means playing in the acc , one of the strongest leagues in the sport. a s she prepares to visit d uke for her first conference series this weekend, o rozco is focused on taking in all the little things.

“ b eing able to go see the university, smell the fresh air in an acc stadium, and put on my jersey and step into a conference game for the first time is just something that really excites me,” she said.

With a firm belief in n otre d ame’s potential, o rozco is all-in for her teammates. s he strives to repay their support by sharing each and every moment with them.

“ i just never ever want to disappoint any person that i ’m in the presence of,” she said. “These girls have welcomed me with open arms, and i hope that i can walk away never disappointing them with my leadership, with my abilities performance-wise and as a friend.”

Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu

effective striking from Pollice. While Lally kept the bout close in the beginning stages, “Il c apo” pulled away in a unanimous decision victory.

“The Real Big” Mike Guyette of Keough Hall def. Harry “Soup” Peluso of Keough Hall

With both fighters coming out on the offensive, m ike Guyette and harry Peluso traded a string of jabs in the first. The highlight moment came when “s oup” connected a headshot, with the sound of his strike reverberating all over dahnke. e ven after a hard-fought first round, neither fighter seemed to have lost a step in the second with “The real big” m ike Guyette landing a few hits that seemed to stagger Peluso. With the fight close on the scoresheet, the third round continued to show excellence from both fighters who held their ground against the opposing onslaught of punches. In the end, “The real big” m ike Guyette was able to seal a unanimous decision victory against his fellow Keough boxer after three strong rounds.

Rob “The Voodoo Ranger”

Rucki of Carroll Hall def. Loren “Bird Legz” Hahn (Off-Campus) dancing around the ring, rucki appeared to be on the front foot during the first round. “The voodoo r anger” avoided any significant blows while striking his opponent numerous times. however, Loren hahn did not let his opponent guide his movement in the second, with strong hooks from the graduate turning the tide of the fight. In another close bout, it seemed that the final decision was dependent on the outcome of the third round. While “bird Legz” attempted to push his opponent against the ropes, rucki remained aggressive, not allowing himself to get cornered. “The voodoo r anger” earned the unanimous decision win after continued pressure throughout the bout kept him ahead in the scoresheet.

Nicholas “Nick” Buhay of Dunne Hall def. Alex ”Jack” Potts of Duncan Hall e arly in the first, “Jack” Potts seemed to take the lead with a strong series of strikes. however, chants of “nick buhay” seemed to ignite “nick” who brought the round back in his favor guiding his opponent against the ropes. buhay continued this momentum into the second round with alternating body and head shots tiring his opponent who could not seem to return his energy. d etermined to change the outcome, strong right hooks from Potts helped to close the gap in strikes landed between the boxers. While a strong finish from “Jack” Potts brought the match within range, nick buhay exited the ring with a split-decision victory after a strong performance in each round.

Jackson “The Stallion”

Graham of Stanford Hall def. Greg “The Hitman”

DeFalco of Alumni Hall

“The h itman” initiated first contact through the matchup’s opening seconds, but the sophomore from stanford hall made the more memorable introduction – brushing off d eFalco’s hits and shoveling the senior from Alumni into the ropes. In round two, Graham genuinely embraced the offensive and deposited d eFalco into a 10-second count – not once but twice – before the second frame was over. d eFalco maintained his mental resolve in the final round, but he kept his feet active to stay out the way of Graham’s forays. Again in round three, the referee held “The h itman” back in a couple of full 10-second counts. Graham, a sophomore from houston, TX, won by unanimous decision.

“Average” Joe Rozgonyi of Baumer Hall def. Nirajan “One Punch” Koirala (Grad Student)

To the sound of “Let’s go Joe” chants, rozgonyi buzzed around the nepalis graduate student, landing some bonafide haymakers in round one. Koirala would go on to make some headway in the second frame, never dropping anything too grave upon his opponent but beginning to take back control of the contest. “Average” Joe and “o ne Punch” both had a backlog of evidence left to prove in the final round. neither exposed himself to a dramatic amount of harm, but neither could cash in any significant hits. In the final quarter of a minute, “o ne Punch” inflicted far more than a single shot on the mask of rozgonyi. but Koirala’s last-second burst wasn’t quite enough, and rozgonyi took home the victory by split decision.

Tommy “The Tank Engine” Sylvia of Knott Hall def. Josh “More of a Lover than a Fighter” Williams of St. Edward’s Hall

A fury of punches filled the opening seconds of this 178-pound semifinal competition — primarily a consequence of s ylvia’s antagonization. At the close of round one, “The Tank e ngine” ignited the crowd of presumably Knott hall residents with a jeer. In order to keep pace with the junior from manhasset, n Y, Williams’ shoulder axis operated on a swivel to kick off round two. but s ylvia was soon able to swing the momentum back in his favor, pressuring the senior from sparta, n J into a 10-second count to close out the second frame. d espite a stoppage for an untied shoelace in the final round, “The Tank e ngine” made closing arguments as if he had been schooled by Amy c oney b arrett in the e ck hall of Law. s ylvia defeated Williams by unanimous decision.

Patrick “PSweet” Sweet of Zahm House def. Jack “Ghost” Phillips of Knott Hall

The stakes were at an alltime high in this contest between this Zahm house senior from c leveland and the b engal b outs club president. Whatever his background, “Ghost” really started to chip away at “P s weet” at the end of 90 seconds and then into round two. nonetheless, drawing off the strength of his tumultuous and numerous backers in the stands, s weet was looking just as relaxed as anyone in the dahnke b allroom with just 90 seconds to go. “Ghost” slipped up early in round three — tripping his fellow senior to the condemnation of the referee. To the very last second, the c levelander’s blows were delivered and received with force. o ut of the blue corner “P s weet” took down Phillips by split decision.

Charles “Attilio” Martin of Zahm House def. Isaac “Ice” Culp of Fisher Hall

With the repeated technique of punch after punch after punch, martin evaporated the confidence of “Ice” during the opening 90 seconds. b etween rounds, off-duty referees concerningly conferred about the abundance of hits on c ulp. Less than a dozen seconds into the second round, the freshman from marshall, m I was forced into a 10-second count. b efore round two concluded, the referee stopped the match for well over a minute so that c ulp’s nose could be patched up. In the next round, “Attilio” landed one too many headshots once again, and the fighting was paused for another extended period of time to replace c ulp’s bandages. martin prevailed by unanimous decision.

Nolan “Toothless” Lyon of Carroll Hall def. Sean “Peg Leg” Mullen of Morrissey Manor

The first round saw Lyon and mullen repeatedly wrapped up in a tight bout. The c arroll hall supporters couldn’t care less as their boxer established an early edge. mullens, anchored by a steady right foot, sent “Toothless” into a couple of 10-counts over the second frame. The morrissey manor manorites in the crowd engaged with their foes from across the lake before round three — and the Phoenix, AZ native backed them up as best he could in the final 90 seconds. Though mullen did deal a few foreboding face shots in round three, they proved to be not quite enough. Lyon would take home his split decision victory back around s aint mary’s Lake.

Chris “Delco Destroyer”

Zack of Baumer Hall def. Kian “The Persian Excursion” Shinaver of Keough Hall e arly in the competition, Zack fell to one knee, but the “d elco d estroyer” got right back up — encouraging “The Persian e xcursion” to opt for a couple of clinches by the time 90 seconds had passed. To the chants of “c Z,” the junior from newtown s quare, PA gained some hard-fought ground against the senior shinaver during round two. Looking to the crowd for support before the final frame, Zack was left a little unprepared when shinaver tried to make a name for himself during the first 10 seconds of the third round. Withstanding his foe’s dangerous desperation, the “d elco d estroyer” finished out strong all the way through the matchup’s close. o ut of the blue corner, Zack took home the split decision.

Justin “My Name Is”

Darwin of Dillon Hall def. Ijeh “The Golden Child” Nwaezeapu of Keough Hall b oth boxers bounced around the ring to kick off this matchup. darwin got nwaezeapu on the defensive quickly, forcing the latter to dodge rather than take swings. nwaezeapu slowly but surely got his footing though and the freshman continued to escape darwin’s rapid hits. “The Golden c hild” shined at the end of the first round, but fell back on his heels at the start of the second, forcing a count and a setback. but yet again, nwaezeapu gained the upper hand with darwin pushed into the corner. This true backand-forth battle came to a climax in the third with both of the agile boxers standing their ground to solidify their case. Ultimately, Justin “my name Is” darwin took the bout home by split decision.

Generoso “El Oso” Rullo of Knott Hall def. Michael “Money” Winchester rullo was ready to swing to start this bout, but Winchester’s steady stance made it hard for the former to make many impactful hits. “e l o so” landed some late in the round, but “money” was ready to pounce each time. A few hits to Winchester’s headgear gave rullo his first break of the bout. “money” didn’t slow down his swings in the second but the freshman out of Knott, rullo was more prepared to avoid the barrage. still worn down from the second, Winchester never regained the momentum he had in the first round. After a final push, Generoso “e l o so” rullo will head to the finals after winning by split decision.

Charlie “Scro” Fredian of Duncan Hall def. Damien “Sauce of the Month” Sylva of Fisher Hall

In a battle of mental strength, neither boxer took the offensive in the first round, opting instead for some maneuvering with the use of their feet. The second round began much more aggressively after “s auce of the month” dipped into his bag to deliver jab after jab. “s cro” was able to stay with him, though, and took landed several to s ylva’s chest. With both boxers bleeding from the beginning of the third round to the end, s ylva had the stamina to wear Fredian down until the latter boxer couldn’t reset to swing between hits. o ut of the gold corner, c harlie “s cro” Fredian was able to take his early momentum to win the bout by split decision.

Andrew “The Red Scare” Cassidy of Keenan Hall def. Bobby “Sweet Bobby Ray” Fitzpatrick of Alumni Hall c assidy pushed Fitzpatrick into a corner physically, but Fitzpatrick never stopped swinging. After a brief stoppage, c assidy continued his assault. With lightning-fast flurries of punches, “The red s care” frightened “s weet b obby r ay” into the ropes several times in the second round. Fitzpatrick had a moment to take control of the tide of the bout, but the sudden burst ended before he could capitalize much. c assidy continued to land hits on Fitzpatrick until the final bell. With a decisive victory by unanimous decision, Andrew “The red s care” c assidy will fight in the final bouts s aturday.

Matthew “Two Cup” Turzai of Keenan Hall def. Ryan “Homie” Quan of Morrissey Manor Turzai couldn’t be stopped as the sophomore came out to win with strong punches and a deafening crowd of Keenan Knights behind him. Quan’s series of hits couldn’t seem to make solid contact at any point in the first round. A maddening rush by Turzai backfired as Quan pushed him off of him and onto the ground. Another series of swings by “Two c up” though solidified the win. b y referee-stop contest, matthew “Two c up” Turzai won the final semifinal bout of the evening.

Jesse “Justice” Salazar of Morrissey Manor def. James “Gimme the Shimmie” Lawrence d ue to injury, Jesse “Justice” s alazar wins this bout by walkover to earn a spot in the finals.

The b engal b outs finals will take place s aturday night at 7 p.m. in Purcell Pavilion.

Contact Nicolas Morles at nmorles@nd.edu, Peter Breen at pbreen2@nd.edu and Alysa Guffey at aguffey@nd.edu