Notre Dame Baseball is absolutely on fire right now. The Irish extended their winning streak to eight games this weekend with a dominant series sweep over Oakland, capping it off with a 9-3 victory on Sunday in their final home series of the regular season. With just four games left on the schedule—a midweek matchup against Dayton followed by a three-game set with Pitt—the Irish are hitting their stride at the perfect time.
The action started early in South Bend, with Notre Dame's defense turning a double play to escape the top of the first inning unscathed. Drew Berkland then set the table with a lead-off walk, and Bino Watters followed with a double to center, putting two runners in scoring position. Mark Quatrani drove in Berkland on a fielder's choice, and after walks to Noah Coy and Jayce Lee, Dylan Passo lifted a sacrifice fly to right to score Watters. Andrew Graham walked to reload the bases, and Mason Barth was hit by a pitch to force in another run, giving the Irish a 3-0 lead after just one inning.
Oakland answered with a run in the top of the second to cut the lead to 3-1, but Notre Dame came right back. Berkland led off the bottom half with a double down the left-field line, and Watters followed with another double to right, scoring Berkland to push the lead back to three.
Irish starter Caden Crowell was in control, striking out the side in order in the third inning after a strikeout, a line-out to Coy, and another strikeout. Notre Dame's offense kept pouring it on in the bottom of the third. Graham and Barth drew walks, and Berkland worked a two-out walk to load the bases. Watters then delivered again, this time with a ground-rule double that cleared the bases and made it 6-1. Quatrani walked to reload, and Coy drew a full-count walk to force in Berkland, stretching the lead to 7-1.
Crowell kept dealing in the fourth, posting his second straight three-up, three-down inning with two more strikeouts and a pop-up. Oakland managed to plate two runs in the fifth to make it 7-3 and threatened again in the sixth, but reliever Xavier Hirsch came in and slammed the door with a strikeout, stranding runners on first and second.
The Irish tacked on more insurance in the bottom of the sixth to seal the sweep and keep their winning streak alive. With momentum on their side and a trip to Dayton on deck, Notre Dame is looking every bit like a team ready to make some noise down the stretch.