Luck of Notre Dame Fighting Irish runs out in Saturday doubleheader

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball team’s perfect start to the season is officially over. And it ended with a rather loud bang. The men with the golden helmets continued to do the things they’ve been doing all season, though the pitching was a little bit worse and the offense wasn’t quite as good as it was in its first four games.

That recipe led to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish surrendering 10 runs in both games on Saturday against the Florida International Panthers. That was especially disappointing considering that Shawn Stiffler’s crew surrendered just four runs in the series opener against FIU.

Of course, there was always a concern going into Saturday that an already thin pitching staff was going to get stretched too far in a doubleheader. A potent offense can only carry Notre Dame so far and the squad found out just what the limit was.

In the first game of the doubleheader, the Golden Domers did give it quite the run. At one point, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish stormed back with 7 runs in the 6th and 7th innings to take the lead in the top of the seventh. Unfortunately, Notre Dame allowed Florida International to tie the game in the bottom of the inning and take the lead for good in the eighth. The final score of game one was 10-8.

Luck of Notre Dame Fighting Irish runs out in Saturday doubleheader

Game two involved the Irish having to rally once again, though this time they were never able to take the lead. Stiffler’s squad had to battle back from down 5-0. They got as close as 5-4, but a three-run seventh and a two-run eighth by FIU pushed them through for a 10-5 final.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will try and get revenge and split the four-game series against Florida International on Sunday afternoon.