The Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball team finished the year on a run. Shawn Stiffler’s crew went from out of contention for anything to being a club that will likely get an at-large bid. One player has played a rather significant role in the turnaround. That would be catcher Carson Tinney.
On Monday, he started getting accolades for the season he’s put together, being named a semifinalist for the Buster Posey Award. The award goes to the country’s best collegiate catcher. It’s hard to argue that there are many better.
Tinney boasts a .351 batting average, .500 on-base percentage, a .766 slugging percentage, and a 1.266 OPS. He has 54 hits through 47 games with 51 runs scored, 13 doubles, and 53 RBI. His 17 home runs in 2025 put him in a tie for sixth all-time in Notre Dame Fighting Irish history for homers in a single season.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish catcher has been even better down the stretch. Since April 15, the Irish catcher has slashed .448/.570/1.090 and compiled a 1.660 OPS. Tinney is one of 13 semifinalists, and the three finalists will be named on June 5.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish put the ball in USC’s court
There’s been a lot of talk the last few weeks about the possibility of the long-running rivalry series between the Irish and USC. In a new report by Pat Forde, Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua once again made it clear he would like the series to continue.
However, Bevacqua is not sure he can make that call. This isn’t the first time he’s said as much. Clearly, he would like to keep things going for now. The Trojans seem to be looking to replace their old rival with an easier non-conference opponent now that they’re in the Big Ten.
Big Time sellouts
The Notre Dame football team knows that it will have at least two sellouts this season. The home opener in 2025, against Texas A&M, as well as the aforementioned rivalry game with USC are both already sold out.
All that talk of the series ending is driving people to make sure they see one of the last games between the two schools in South Bend. If that is indeed where this thing is going.
Peer recruiting Joey O’Brien
Notre Dame Fighting Irish has been on a heck of a recruiting run of late. It appears that some of the most recent commits are getting in on the action. When 4-star defensive back Joey O’Brien asked social media what they thought about him going to Penn State, not one, not two, but at least three Irish players made it known they weren’t thrilled. Sometimes peer pressure is good.