Notre Dame is not exactly a baseball powerhouse.

The Fighting Irish have had some memorable moments here and there, including a stunning win over No. 1 Florida State in the 2002 Super Regionals, but by and large they've never proven to be an elite program.

Florida State alum Link Jarrett might just be changing that narrative.

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With Jarrett in his second season at the helm, Notre Dame is currently ranked No. 2 in the country as it prepares to welcome Florida State to South Bend, Ind., this weekend for a critical three-game series.

"Link is a very intelligent guy," FSU head coach Mike Martin Jr. said. "He works hard and understands our game of college baseball. I knew last year he liked his guys. He said, 'We've got some guys I think that are athletic enough; they just haven't been taught correctly.' And he really felt like they could do something."

He was right.

The Irish are 24-8 overall and 21-8 in the ACC.

They are coming off a three-game sweep of North Carolina and are now in first place in the conference.

Since Jarrett took over the program in July of 2019, the Irish are 35-11 overall. And they are poised to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015. They lead the ACC in fielding percentage, and they use a bunch of different -- and capable -- arms over the course of a weekend.

Their bats also have gotten hot of late, scoring 43 runs in the last five games. But for the season, the Notre Dame offense ranks 11th in the conference in runs scored and 13th in hits.

One thing the Irish do extremely well offensively is avoid strikeouts; they have done that less than any other team in the conference.

This weekend, they will be facing an FSU pitching staff that lives by the K. The Seminoles' pitchers not only lead the conference with 466 strikeouts (an average of 11.9 per game), but they rank third in the country.

Against Troy last weekend, the FSU staff struck out 44 batters and walked just two.

"It's hard to do over the course of three games, to only walk two guys," Martin Jr. said. "It is a credit to Jimmy (Belanger, FSU's pitching coach) and the guys buying into what we're trying to do."

With the trip to South Bend scheduled for May instead of earlier in the year, the Seminoles are getting a bit of a break on the weather.

It's not going to be balmy in Indiana this weekend, but it's not expected to be brutally cold either; the forecast calls for highs in the mid-50s. With the first two games being played at night, however, it should sneak into the 40s during the course of those games.

"If the first number is a 4, we're OK," Martin Jr. said. "If that first number is a 3, these Florida boys don't do so good in it. But, again, we'll be amped up and ready to go. And that adrenaline will take care of the cold."

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