Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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ND SPORTS his junior year, though, Smoyer suf- fered a broken thumb on his throwing hand, limiting his in-person exposure to college scouts during a crucial re- cruiting period. Notre Dame and Bowling Green were the only two schools that had seen him play by the start of the sum- mer. He visited the South Bend cam- pus and committed just a few days later. "I actually wasn't a huge fan of Notre Dame; I grew up a Buckeye," Smoyer said. "But I saw the place, and it was beautiful. "I fell in love as soon as I saw it, and from there I was all Irish." Like many star athletes that make the jump to Notre Dame from the high school level, Smoyer struggled both on and off the field early in his career with a role coming out of the bullpen. In his first career start — against Youngstown State on March 1, 2014 — he only lasted one inning, giving up four hits and three runs. "Taking that bench role and under- standing that it's better for the team for you to sit and work on yourself and get better individually, that team- first mentality, it's hard to understand right away," he said. "You feel like the world is against you in some aspects." However, a turning point in his career came when then-senior Sean Fitzgerald sat Smoyer down for a con- fidence-boosting chat in the team's hotel after a series in which the Irish really struggled. The rookie took Fitzgerald's advice to heart. "He basically came up to me and said, 'You're here for a reason, and no one expects anything more than go- ing out there and giving it your all,'" Smoyer said. "He said, 'We need you to produce for this team, but no one expects you to be anyone that you're not. We're not expecting you to go out and strike 10 guys out in five innings, we're expecting you to go out and just pitch. Do the best that you can within the parameters that your body lets you.' "He wasn't going off on me, he was trying to help me realize there were bigger things ahead and that past fail- ures would lead to future successes. He said he didn't even plan it, he just saw me and knew something was go- ing on. It was a huge help." Smoyer kept working, despite total- ing only 11 appearances as a fresh- man. He picked up his first career win in an 8-3 midweek triumph over Central Michigan on March 18, 2015, and the victories kept rolling. There were wins over Western Michigan March 25, Eastern Michi- gan March 31 and at Pittsburgh April 5, improving his sophomore year total to 4-0. Then, the highlight of his season came. Smoyer earned the Friday night starting nod against No. 7 Florida State, after usual starter Scott Ker- rigan was unable to go due to injury. The righty scattered five hits over seven innings, allowing just two runs in a 5-2 victory. It marked the highest ranked op- ponent Notre Dame had beaten since a 16-6 triumph over No. 7 Nebraska in 2007, and the Irish went on to sweep