Notre Dame baseball ready to put its optimism, aggressive scheduling to the test

Shawn Stiffler took a glance out the window on a day when the mercury was stuck in the single digits and massive piles of plowed snow decorated the parking lot outside the Notre Dame baseball facility.

“I’ve never been more excited to get on a plane in my life,” offered the fourth-year Irish baseball coach, whose ND team starts the 2026 season Friday evening in Boca Raton, Fla., and plays 16 of its first 17 games away from its South Bend home.

Stiffler wore a wide smile when he said it, and weather was only a minor factor in his eagerness for a change of scenery.

The team riding with him on the plane and opening a three-game series at Florida Atlantic University Friday at 6:30 p.m. EDT is the biggest reason. A team picked to finish 12th in the 16-team baseball version of the ACC, with admittedly half of those teams ranked in the DI preseason poll and 29 of the league’s players garnering preseason All-America honors.

“I’m as excited as I’ve been in a long time to get this started,” Stiffler said, loving the under-the-radar projection and confident that it will implode at some point.

At least the Irish scheduled like it would.

After the three road games against the Owls (37-21 in 2025), a team that finished with winning records in 16 of John McCormack’s 17 previous seasons, the Irish have defending national champion LSU (53-15) on tap for weekend No. 2.

That’s part of the Live Like Lou Jax Baseball Classic, a four-team, round-robin tournament in Jacksonville’s VyStar Ballpark, which also includes Irish matchups vs. UCF (29-26) and Indiana (32-24).

Taking stock of the 2026 Irish

The Irish started out 16-19 last season but made a late run at an NCAA Tournament berth with a 16-2 tear over their last 18 games. Notre Dame still ended up on the wrong side of the bubble on NCAA Tourney Selection Day.

The biggest personnel loss from that team was All-America catcher Carson Tinney, who transferred to Texas. Tinney led the Irish in batting average (.348), home runs (17) and RBIs (53).

But the Irish retained plenty, led by junior pitcher Jack Radel (7-4, 3.58), and added seven transfers and 12 freshmen.  

“Obviously, we feel very, very confident when Jack takes the mound on Friday nights,” Stiffler said. “We’re going to be as good as anybody in the country.”

Radel will take the mound in Friday night’s opener, with freshman lefty Caden Crowell getting the start Saturday (4 p.m.) and Stanford transfer Ty Uber starting the Sunday series finale (noon), after pitching primarily in relief for the Cardinal last season.

Many happy returns and the NIL factor

Sophomore outfielder Bino Watters (.317/.36/.549), a freshman All-American, is ND’s top position player returnee and will play multiple positions in 2026. His decision to return backs Stiffler’s optimism about Notre Dame’s commitment to baseball in the revenue-share/NIL Era. 

“I think every program — regardless of where you’re at — that’s at the front of all head coaches’ thoughts, trying to get as much as we can for our players and to put together a complete roster. Notre Dame and our ability to create NIL opportunities for our guys has gotten better every year that I’ve been here.

“It’s continuing to get better. And I think it’s something that you’ve seen with football, basketball, now with the Olympic sports, it’s evolving every year. And so, we’re at a place where we feel like we can put together a competitive roster.

“And I think you saw that with the retention of our players this past year and the ability to get into the portal a little bit deeper.”