The Atlantic Coast Conference remains one of the most competitive conferences in all of college baseball, with seven teams ranked in the Top 25, per D1 Baseball. The Miami Hurricanes (18-6, 7-2 ACC) are now proving they belong among college baseball’s elite.
“This team fights for each other and that’s very important in this sport,” Miami head coach Gino DiMare said Sunday following the team’s three-game sweep over North Carolina.
Coming into this weekend’s series at Duke (12-13, 3-6 ACC), the Hurricanes are riding their third five-game winning streak of the season. Miami is playing some of its best baseball of the season and confirming as to why it should be considered one of the best teams in the country.
After a 7-1 victory over Florida Atlantic on March 23, Miami swept previously No.13 ranked North Carolina. The sweep was capped off in a 3-2 14-inning victory on a walk-off single by freshman outfielder Renzo Gonzalez.
“I hit the ball, I saw the shortstop dive and knew there was no way he was going to stop it,” Gonzalez said. “The guys were going crazy. This is why you come to Miami.”
Miami followed up the thrilling sweep over the Tar Heels with an 11-7 victory over Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday. The Hurricanes used a 10-run third inning to cruise to another midweek victory. The win moved Miami to 4-1 in midweek matchups this season.
Junior catcher Maxwell Romero Jr. provided the highlight of the night with a three-run home run in the electric third inning, giving him his team-leading 26th RBI of the season.
“We put a lot of good hits together and put a lot of pressure on them,” DiMare said. “We hit some balls hard and took advantage of their defensive miscues in that inning.”
After conference series victories over Clemson and Boston College, the Hurricanes will now look to continue their newfound momentum into Durham, North Carolina, against a reeling Blue Devils team that sits in the cellar of the ACC Coastal.
Sophomore starter Carson Palmquist will start the opener for Miami as he looks for his sixth victory of the season. The game will start at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.