The Hurricanes baseball team continues to dominate in ACC play after winning two games against Duke, only to be stopped by Mother Nature – Sunday’s game was rained out.
Junior center fielder Blake Tekotte went 5-10 and right fielder Dennis Raben had five RBI as the No. 2 ranked Hurricanes (21-2, 9-1 ACC) extended their win streak to eight games behind a dynamic offense and strong pitching.
Raben went 2-for-5 with four RBI Friday night, including a game-winning, two-run double in the 10th inning to defeat the Blue Devils (21-7, 4-7 ACC) 7-5. The Canes opened up the scoring with four runs in the first and one in the second. A five-run fifth inning from Duke tied the score.
Sophomore reliever Kyle Bellamy gave up one hit and threw two scoreless innings for his third win of the season.
“Duke is a good club,” head coach Jim Morris said. “We had one bad inning Friday and they tied it up, but our bullpen threw good and we were able to get the win.”
Senior pitcher Enrique Garcia earned his first win of the season after leading the Hurricanes to an 8-1 victory on Saturday afternoon. Garcia gave up only one run on three hits in a season-high eight innings.
“He [Garcia] really looks more confident,” Morris said. “He looked good in relief and then pitched well Saturday. He is an important pitcher for us.”
Miami continues to swing the bats well combining for 22 hits in the two games. Saturday marked the ninth straight game that the Hurricanes had double-digit hits in a game.
After a scoreless first two innings, Miami had five runs in the third thanks to poor defense from Duke. The Blue Devils had three errors, one walk, a hit batter and a wild pitch in the inning. Miami was led by the bats of sophomore shortstop Ryan Jackson, who went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs, and Tekotte, who went 3-for-6 with an RBI.
The third game of the series was canceled after the first inning. At the time of cancelation, Duke was leading 1-0 but the game will not be made up. This marks the second weekend in a row that the Hurricanes have been unable to finish a three-game series due to weather.
“This is a tough league,” Morris said. “It is important to win each series and always important to win in the ACC.”
Miami will look to continue their success Tuesday night when they host Florida Atlantic. The team will travel Wednesday to take on Florida International University at 6 p.m.
Alex Kushel contributed to this story.
Rory Lincoln may be contacted at r.lincoln@umiami.edu.