Notre Dame Baseball Spirals to Fourth ACC Series Loss in Five Weeks After Collapsing Against No. 13 Virginia

Notre Dame baseball is searching for answers after another brutal weekend in ACC play. The Irish dropped their third straight conference series on Sunday, falling 20-5 in eight innings to No. 13 Virginia at Frank Eck Stadium, a loss that underscored how far the program has drifted since a promising sweep of Clemson just weeks ago.

Notre Dame actually held a lead early. After Virginia plated a run in the top of the first, the Irish answered immediately. Mark Quatrani reached on a passed ball, Bino Watters singled to left, and Mason Barth drove in the tying run with a single to right. A sacrifice fly from Jayce Lee put Notre Dame ahead 2-1.

The lead lasted exactly one inning. Virginia answered with three runs in the second and never looked back, slowly suffocating the Irish lineup while building a lead that would become insurmountable.

Notre Dame clawed within one run at 5-4 when Jayce Lee crushed a 368-foot home run to right field in the third inning. It was a brief spark in what became a long, difficult afternoon.

The wheels came off in the fourth. Virginia poured in four runs that frame and added another in the fifth, stretching the lead to 10-4. Starter Dylan Singleton was pulled after just 2.1 innings, having failed to record an out in the third. The Irish bullpen was forced to absorb the brunt of the damage, with eight total pitchers seeing action as the Cavaliers scored in each of the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings.

The series loss makes it four of five ACC series defeats for Notre Dame, which sits at 16-15 overall and 7-11 in conference play. The schedule does not offer much relief. The next two series come against Florida State and Boston College, teams currently sitting third and fourth in the ACC standings respectively.

The Irish will look to reset with a midweek non-conference tilt against Valparaiso on Tuesday evening at Frank Eck Stadium, first pitch scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET.