bertrand's complete game shuts down hokies' offense

Ryan Wilkes

May 20, 2021

BLACKSBURG 一 A controversial play at home in the top of the first inning in Thursday’s series opener caused Virginia Tech head coach John Szefc to put the matchup against No. 8 Notre Dame under protest.

In the end, it didn’t matter.

The Hokies offense did little to protest against the arm of the Irish’s John Bertrand, who dominated the bats with an eight strikeout complete game performance.

Notre Dame (27-10, 23-10 ACC) used Bertand’s performance, complemented with a balanced offensive attack to defeat Virginia Tech (27-21, 16-18 ACC), 8-2.

The top of the first provided some of the only drama in the first matchup of the series, as the Hokies’ Kevin Madden caught the Irish’s Carter Putz in a rundown between third and home. In true superman fashion, Madden laid out, applying the tag to the back of Putz, but lost the ball in his glove upon impact with the ground.

Home plate umpire Danny Everett initially ruled that Putz was tagged out, but immediately Irish head coach Link Jarrett signaled for review.

Upon review, the umpiring crew determined that Madden did not complete the play with the ball in his glove and Putz was ruled safe at home, causing Tech head coach John Szefc to put the game under protest.

That was about as dramatic as it would get under the lights at English Field on Thursday evening.

Despite holding the Irish to one run through four innings, Peyton Alford’s control slipped from him in the fifth inning, allowing two Notre Dame baserunners to come across and score on two seperate wild pitches.

Jaison Heard entered the game for Alford after just one out in the fifth, and the floodgates opened. Carter Putz singled to give the Irish a 4-0 lead and then following a walk, Jared Miller cleared the bases with a bases-loaded triple to give Notre Dame the 7-0 lead.

The Hokie offense showed a glimpse of life in the fifth and sixth innings by putting up a run in each inning, but that quiver of hope was quickly covered up by the looming shadow of Bertrand and his upper 90s fastball.

Bertrand pitched nine innings of two-run baseball, throwing an efficient 95 pitches and only allowed nine Hokies to reach base.

Virginia Tech and Notre Dame return to English Field Friday evening at 6 p.m. as the Hokies look to even the series and make a final push in bolstering their NCAA tournament resume. Notre Dame, meanwhile, looks to take home its last ACC series with a win in what has been a surprising, but dominant season.