Baseball

Louisville Visits Notre Dame for Key Atlantic Division Series

ACC Baseball Release: http://theacc.co/accBB2021

ACC 2021 Baseball Information Guide: http://theacc.co/21accbbGDE


• The ACC weekend schedule again features seven conference series, including a battle for first place in the Atlantic Division as No. 6 Louisville visits No. 12 Notre Dame. It will be the first ever three-game series between top-15 teams in Frank Eck Stadium. 

• The last top-20 matchup at Eck was a two-game midweek series between the No. 8 Irish and No. 20 UCF in May of 2004. Louisville and Notre Dame have 40 previous meetings, with the Cardinals holding a 32-8 all-time advantage. Louisville has won 19 consecutive games against the Irish, its longest active streak against a single opponent. UofL is 14-1 all-time at Notre Dame.

• Louisville owns 118 conference wins since joining the ACC in 2015, the most conference wins during that time of any Power Five school. The Cardinals have won 41 of 54 ACC series since joining the league and are 44-9 in series finales during that span, including a 14-6 record in rubber games.

• ACC Network plans weekend coverage, beginning with Friday’s opener of Clemson’s series at Boston College. Also on tap are game two of No. 10 Georgia Tech’s road trip to Duke on Saturday night, and Sunday’s series finale of Virginia Tech’s series at No. 14 Pitt.

• Louisville, ranked as high as No. 6 this week, is one of eight ACC teams that appears in at least one national poll. Each of the ACC’s 14 teams have been ranked nationally in multiple national polls at some point during the 2021 baseball season. The list includes Pitt and Notre Dame, which were both picked for last-place finishes in their divisions in preseason but are currently consensus top 25 teams. Pitt recorded its highest-ever ranking in program history when it garnered the No. 14 slot in the Baseball America Poll released Monday. 

• Florida State’s Robby Martin was honored as the National Hitter of the Week by the NCBWA on Tuesday. Martin finished last week hitting .550 with three home runs, three doubles and 12 RBI in the four games versus top-10 opponents.

• Pitt’s No. 2 ranking in the first NCAA RPI released Thursday leads all ACC teams. No.11 Duke, No. 12 Notre Dame, No. 17 Boston College and No. 22 North Carolina follow to give the ACC five teams among the top 25. 

ACC By The Numbers

2 - The ACC boasts the two leading active NCAA D-1 coaches in terms of winning percentage -- Louisville’s Dan McDonnell (.718) and Virginia’s Brian O’Connor (.704).

3 - Three ACC teams rank in the top five nationally for most all-time NCAA tournament appearances: No. 2 Florida State (57), No. 3 Miami (46), and No. 5 Clemson (44).

6 - The Atlantic Coast Conference has placed at least six teams in each of the last 16 NCAA tournaments.

10 - At least two ACC baseball teams have earned national seeds in each of the last 10 NCAA tournaments.

14 - At least one ACC team has reached the College World Series in Omaha each of the previous 14 years in which it has been held, and multiple ACC teams reached the CWS nine times during that span.

26 - The ACC has placed a total of 26 teams in the past 14 College World Series, an average of just under two per season.

82 - Eighty-two (82) ACC teams have earned NCAA bids in the last 11 tournament years.

96 - The 14 current ACC teams have a combined 96 College World Series appearances.

1,100 (plus) - In Georgia Tech’s Danny Hall (1,292) and NC State’s Elliott Avent (1,118), the ACC claims the NCAA Division I’s No. 4 and No. 7 active coaches in terms of total victories.