Season Preview: Notre Dame Baseball
· Notre Dame checks in at 24th nationally in Perfect Game's preseason poll, the first preseason ranking in the Mik Aoki era.
· All four starters return in the infield, headlined by junior second baseman and Baseball America preseason first-team All-American Cavan Biggio.
· 472.2 of 554.2 innings pitched last season are back for the Irish in 2016.
Notre Dame baseball is primed for a big season in 2016.
For the first time in head coach Mik Aoki's six-year career with the Irish, his program is ranked in the Perfect Game preseason Top 25, checking in at No. 24 nationally.
Blue & Gold Illustrated has you covered as college baseball's opening weekend begins, including the Irish's three-game series at Santa Clara.
Team Preseason Expectations
No. 24 Notre Dame is one of seven ACC schools that made it in the Perfect Game Top 25, a list that also includes No. 2 Louisville, No. 9 Virginia, No. 11 Miami, No. 13 N.C. State, No. 20 Florida State and No. 22 North Carolina.
Aoki's squad plays five of those six ranked ACC teams this year, with the series against the Hurricanes the only one scheduled at home. They also have games against No. 5 LSU, No. 12 Oregon and No. 23 Michigan.
The preseason ACC coaches poll pegged Notre Dame fourth in the Atlantic Division, trailing projected champion Louisville, Florida State and North Carolina State. The same poll predicted the Irish eighth out of 14 teams overall in the loaded conference.
Seven ACC teams reached the NCAA tournament last season, and four of those advanced to Super Regionals, with Virginia eventually emerging as national champion.
Preseason rankings vary a bit in other publications. Collegiate Baseball Newspaper pegs the Irish at No. 27, while Athlon placed Notre Dame all the way up at No. 9.
Both Baseball American and D1Baseball.com - two of the six polls the NCAA uses in its collective rankings - projected Notre Dame to qualify for the NCAA Regionals.
Returning Lineup
Notre Dame's infield returns all four starters - senior first baseman Zak Kutsulis, junior second baseman Cavan Biggio, senior shortstop Lane Richard and junior third baseman Kyle Fiala. That group helped Notre Dame to a .979 fielding percentage last season (No. 9 nationally) and 75 double plays in 60 games, the most in college baseball.
Starring out of that quartet is Biggio, the son of MLB Hall-of-Famer Craig Biggio (Astros, 1988-2007). The Irish junior won a Rawlings Gold Glove last season, making him the only second baseman in college baseball to pickup the distinction, and just the second honoree in school history (A.J. Pollock, 2009). Biggio was named a preseason first-team All-American this year by Baseball America.
"It's a great help to just begin the year," said Aoki to UND.com, regarding all the returners in the infield. "They know all of our stuff, in terms of our first-to-third throws and our bunt defenses.
"Honestly, baseball isn't like football and basketball where you have set plays. For those guys, it's an experiential thing of knowing where to be and looking for things on the field. It's nice to just not have to worry a ton about them. In a way, they're kind of coaching themselves out there."
The outfield looks to feature senior Kyle Richardson at center field, who appeared in 47 games last year for the Irish, starting 23. Sophomore Jake Johnson is expected to start at right field, after a promising freshman campaign (.392 on-base percentage in 80 at-bats) was cut short at just 25 games due to an oblique injury. A number of freshman could contribute at left field, including former St. Louis Christian Brothers star Matt Vierling. The Irish rookie was ranked as the 48th-best freshman in the country by Perfect Game.
"I don't know if I have any really high expectations just yet," Aoki told UND.com about Vierling. "I think he's a talented player and he's still learning.
"I want him to just be able to mentally take the game one pitch at a time. It's a lot easier said than done, and for him, I'm sure in some way, shape, or form he might have expectations for himself. If he can just focus on how good he can possibly be from pitch to pitch, he should be good, and that's all we can expect from him at this point."
Finally, junior catcher Ryan Lidge returns behind the plate. He finished last year with 36 RBI's and a .402 on-base percentage, both figures second-highest on the team.
“I think the biggest thing is just being steady for them,” Aoki told UND.com on Lidge. “For any player, when things aren’t going great personally or for the team, having a catcher who can almost send some confidence out to you is really important.
"That’s what he brings. I think the experience factor is a big one, and he’s graduated to the point where he understands that he and the pitcher are a team.
“It’s about trying to be the best pitching battery you can be out there, and he’s worked really hard to develop that. He’s been able to watch some of the best catchers in the country and pick up bits and pieces from them. He’s gotten better at blocking as well, and he’s begun to take a great deal of pride in his defense.”
Returning Pitchers
Notre Dame also returns a wealth of experience on the mound, with over 85 percent (472.2 of 554.2) of innings pitched last season scheduled to suit up for Aoki's squad. The program last year - helped largely by the returning nucleus - finished third in the ACC and 26th nationally with a 3.13 team ERA.
The weekend starters against Santa Clara include junior Ryan Smoyer, sophomore Peter Solomon and sophomore Sean Guenther, who will pitch Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Sophomore Brandon Bielak, senior Nick McCarty and junior Scott Tully look to contribute early out of the bullpen, and sophomore Brad Bass could start the year as closer.
That returning core - injected with a mixture of talented freshman - means a lot of names could see the mound for the Irish this year.
"It made for an incredibly competitive preseason and some difficult choices," Aoki told UND.com. "I think there's a number of guys who could start for us and any of them could be at the back end closing for us or filling all kinds of roles in between.
"I think these guys are caught up in promoting a culture where they're working to be the best pitchers they can instead of focusing on a certain role."
Season Starts At Santa Clara
As mentioned, the season begins for Notre Dame on Friday night with a three-game weekend series at Santa Clara.
Opening pitch is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET. Free, live video will be streamed here (link).