Notre Dame Baseball: Irish set to begin 2023 season against Lipscomb

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are ready to begin the 2023 season today in Nashville, Tennessee, against the Lipscomb Bison. It’s the start of a new era of Irish baseball in South Bend as Shawn Stiffler takes over as the head coach after the departure of Link Jarrett to the Florida State Seminoles.

Notre Dame will spend the first 17 games of the season on the road, so it will be very important for the team to gel and find ways to win in every inning — as nothing is easy away from home.

While Notre Dame lost some very important pieces from last year's squad that went to the College World Series like John M Bertrand, Alex Rao, Jack Brannigan, Ryan Cole, Austin Temple, and David LaManna — they still return a nice amount of talent for 2023.

Some notes from Notre Dame:

Coming off the most successful season in almost 20 years, a strong portion of the 2022 leadership returns as seven graduate students are back for another year with the Irish, four of which were every day starters.

Graduate students Carter Putz, Zack Prajzner, Jack Zyska, and Brooks Coetzee all return to the field for the Irish.

The Irish return Freshman All-American LHP Jack Findlay.

Findlay capped off his freshman season as a pivotal piece of Notre Dame’s postseason success. He made 20 appearances, including eight starts, but was recognized as a big-time closer for the Irish.

Findlay led the Irish in ERA and saves, was second in wins and third on the team in innings pitched after finishing the 2022 season with a 2.17 ERA, 54 strikeouts, and 6-2 record with four saves through 49.2 innings.

Graduate student Aidan Tyrell also returns to the mound for Notre Dame as does a fellow graduate student, Will Mercer.

The Irish also have 14 newcomers, featuring 10 freshmen and four grad transfers.

Blake Hely is a graduate transfer that joined the Irish this fall after spending four years at Davidson. He was another Notre Dame player recognized by Perfect Game this year as one of the top 50 impact transfers in the nation. Hely was a weekend starter for the Wildcats, appearing in and starting 15 games with a 3.80 ERA and a 9-2 record after leading Davidson in 2022 with 85.1 innings pitched.

Hely was also named Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year, Atlantic 10 First Team, and ABCA All-Atlantic Region Team this past season. Hely held opponents to a .207 batting average, led the A-10 with 6.86 hits allowed per nine innings and was second in the league with 97 strikeouts.