Notre Dame baseball beats Clemson, advances to play Virginia Tech in ACC Tournament

Notre Dame didn’t want to play from behind at Truist Field on Tuesday. So the Fighting Irish didn’t … save for some 15 minutes between losing the lead in the top of the third and taking it back in the bottom half of the same frame.

That was it.

The Irish went ahead of Clemson on a leadoff home run by Drew Berkland in the bottom of the first. They trailed briefly for those aforementioned moments in the third, but once they got the lead back they never relinquished it again in a 5-4 victory over the Tigers (31-26, 10-20).

Notre Dame, needing to string who knows how many wins together in Charlotte, N.C., to punch a ticket to the NCAA Tournament, lives to play another day. The No. 10 seed Irish (30-21, 13-17) will face No. 7 seed Virginia Tech (29-23, 15-15) on Wednesday.

The Irish’s season wouldn’t still be going if not for ace pitcher Jack Radel. The big right-hander improved his season-long ERA to 3.29 by only allowing a pair of earned runs in 6 1/3 innings of work. He struck out eight batters and walked just one.

In the only inning in which Radel allowed runs to score, Notre Dame right fielder Jayce Lee lost a ball in the sun and let it drop in front of him for a double. The Tigers drove the runner home with a two-out triple two batters later. That was after Radel opened the inning by serving up a leadoff home run.

Otherwise, Radel was in rare form.

He didn’t let Clemson hitters get deep into counts and put pressure on him until the sixth. His gutsiest out of the game was the only one he got in the seventh, a strikeout of designated hitter Jacob Jarrell. Lefty Dylan Singleton surrendered a solo home run in relief of Radel, but he still got out of the seventh with Notre Dame in the lead. Then lefty Noah Rooney took a page out of the Radel playbook and worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning.

As for the Notre Dame offense that offered up just enough for the Irish to get the win, Bino Watters matched Berkland with a solo home run of his own. Lee, making up for his fielding blunder, was 3 for 3 with three extra-base hits and an intentional walk. He drove in two runs. Dylan Passo was responsible for the sacrifice fly in the eighth that stretched Notre Dame’s lead back to two runs.

Rooney, everyone including himself knowing how much was riding on his arm in this spot, was sent back out to the mound for the ninth. He induced two ground balls to get Notre Dame one out away from a win. A no-doubt solo shot off the bat of Jarrell pulled Clemson to within one run of a tie, however, and brought the Irish infield to Rooney’s side for a meeting. There wasn’t any room left for error after the Jarrell jack.

Well, there was room for three Tigers to be put on base. And Rooney did allow for one to take a spot via a single. But no more. He struck out Bryce Clavon looking to end the game, end Clemson’s season and save Notre Dame’s for the time being.

The Irish and Hokies’s tentative start time Wednesday is 5 p.m. ET. The two teams did not meet during the regular season. The Irish are 1-5 against the Hokies during the Shawn Stiffler era. Those five regular season losses would be forgotten if Stiffler can find a way for his guys to get the best of ’em this time, much like going 0-3 in ACC Tournament games at Notre Dame prior to Tuesday’s is now a thing of the past as well.

This Irish team is playing for the now. And they just keep having to do so one game at a time, no matter the opponent. Step in and step up.