This week: Notre Dame will compete in its final series of the regular season this week with four games against Urbana. The first doubleheader will be at home in Avon, Ohio on Friday, May 4. Then, on Sunday, May 5, the Falcons will travel to Urbana for two more games. Both days are set to start at 1 and 3 p.m. Friday will be Senior Day for NDC.

Records: The Falcons are 17-28, 14-14 MEC while the Blue Knights are 9-34, 9-19 MEC.  

Coaches Corner: Len Barker is in his seventh season as the head coach at Notre Dame. Barker is 145-175-1, 87-68 MEC at the helm of the Falcons' program. Jake Oester is in his second season with Urbana. Oester holds a record of 26-49, 20-38 MEC.

Rankings: Neither team was ranked in the May 2 National College Baseball Writers' Association Poll.

Series History: Notre Dame is 16-11 against Urbana in a series dating back to 2008. Last year, the teams split their four games with NDC winning the first games on each day and Urbana winning the second.

MEC Playoff Watch: The Falcons are currently 14-14 in the MEC, just one game behind Fairmont State and West Liberty in the North Division. Shepherd will win the North Division as they currently hold a 23-5 conference record. NDC, FSU and WLU will each be vying for a top three finish in the division as those teams will be competing in the MEC Championships. Fairmont State will finish its season with four games against Shepherd while West Liberty will play Wheeling Jesuit four times.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame will say goodbye to five seniors this season, two of which will leave with multiple records. Josh Armbruster already holds school records for most career starts (45), wins (18), complete games (16) and strikeouts (175). Austin Barnhart will likely break the record for most games played as he is currently second with 181 appearances and 179 starts. If he starts all four games this weekend, he will hold the record in both of those categories. Barnhart's 136 hits and 73 runs both rank in NDC's top five while his 54 RBIs is also in the top 10. Cam Fuller, who threw the second no-hitter in NDC history against Fairmont State on April 17, 2016, will also say his farewells along with Jacob Carpenter and Matt Seekins.

Noting the Blue Knights: Urbana has struggled this season on both sides of the game as they rank second worst in team batting average (.237) and have the highest team ERA (7.83). In the bottom of those categories with Urbana is Wheeling Jesuit, who the Falcons swept earlier in the season. The Blue Knights do boast one of the better sluggers in the MEC in Zeth Tanner. Tanner ranks second in the conference with 10 home runs. He has a batting average of .312, second-best on his team behind Austin Pratt (.331). Despite being one of two players in the conference with double-digit home run hits, Tanner has not cracked the top 20 in the MEC in RBIs.