SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Carter Putz’s grand slam home run in the bottom of the fifth inning broke it open and Notre Dame went on to beat Central Michigan 14-2 on Sunday to send the Irish to the Super Regionals for the first time since 2002.
Putz added a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth and left the park six times in three games at the South Bend Regional. Notre Dame (33-11) outscored its opponents 50-5 with 15 homers during the weekend.
The Chippewas (42-18) took a 1-0 lead an inning earlier when Griffin Lockwood-Powell hit a solo homer on a 1-1 pitch. Notre Dame took the lead for good in its half of the fourth when Niko Kavadas hit a solo shot, and Putz later scored from third on a throwing by CMU shortstop Justin Simpson.
Ryan Cole hit a three-run homer for Notre Dame in the seventh and Brooks Coetzee hit a two-run homer in the eighth.
Lockwood-Powell, Simpson and Jakob Marsee each collected a pair of hits for CMU.
