Notre Dame's Cole Clark tosses two-hitter in 7-0 Boras Classic win over Corona

SANTA ANA, Calif. -- For six innings, Notre Dame senior starter Cole Clark was locked in a pitcher's duel with Corona sophomore Ethan Schiefelbein. 

After six frames, the Knights led 1-0, but in the top of the seventh inning Notre Dame exploded for six more runs to give Clark some wiggle room. 

"That got the stress off my back," Clark said.

It turns out, one run was all the senior LMU signee would need in the game. Clark came out and pitched a scoreless seventh inning to give his Notre Dame team a 7-0 first round win in the Boras Classic. He struck out three and allowed only two hits in the victory. 

“My approach was to fill the zone, throw strikes and trust my defense," Clark said. "They did a great job behind me. I can’t thank them enough.”

Notre Dame took the 1-0 lead in the first inning courtesy of a sacrifice fly from senior Max Aude. Schiefelbein then shut down Notre Dame on the mound for the next five innings before running into trouble in the seventh. 

In the final inning, Notre Dame junior Madden Ocko hit a leadoff single and then junior Adam Schlesinger bunted for a base hit. Schiefelbein then surrendered two walks in a row, which scored Notre Dame's second run and Schiefelbein was pulled. He finished the game with seven strikeouts in six innings.  

Sophomore Jake Skelskey came in to relieve Schiefelbein with the bases loaded and no outs in the seventh. Notre Dame's next batter, sophomore Levi Sterling, hit an RBI single and then senior Jackson Frankovich hit a sacrifice fly putting Notre Dame ahead 4-0. Three batters later, senior Jack Gurevitch hit a two RBI single extending the Knights' lead to 7-0. 

Notre Dame will play the winner of Mater Dei vs. Point Loma in the second round of the Boras Classic on Wednesday at Mater Dei.