It’s Postseason, Canes Earn Five Seed in ACC Tournament

Miami (36-17, 16-14 ACC) was up in Tallahassee last weekend for a three-game set against the Florida State Seminoles (38-16, 19-11).

In Thursday’s opener, Miami never played better — for seven innings. Unfortunately, you have to play nine these days. Senior starter Rob Evans was outstanding. Evans went seven innings, giving up only one run. The Canes had a 6-1 lead when the Noles came to bat in the eighth. A three-run home run by freshman catcher Alonzo Alvarez in the fourth put Miami up 4-1, and two insurance runs in the seventh stretched the lead to five.

Senior right-handed pitcher Lyndon Glidewell, on in relief, struck out the first batter looking. The next two hitters launched back-to-back home runs, one to deep left and one to deep right. Glidewell settled down afterward, recording a groundout to short and another strikeout as Miami carried a 6-3 lead into the ninth.

Glidewell walked the leadoff batter in the ninth. A single and a sacrifice fly cut the lead to 6-4. A two-run blast over the left field fence by pinch hitter Eli Putnam tied the game 6-6 and sent it to extra innings.

Miami went down 1-2-3 in the 10th and stayed alive by catching two Seminoles stealing in the bottom half of the inning. In the 11th, all three Hurricanes struck out swinging, giving Florida State another opportunity.

Senior left-handed pitcher Jake Dorn retired the leadoff hitter on an infield popup before allowing an infield single and being replaced by senior right-hander Ryan Bilka, who recorded the second out on a fly ball to right. A single to left put runners on first and third. Bilka then hit the next batter to load the bases and was pulled for freshman left-hander Sebastian Santos-Olsen, who walked in the winning run on four pitches.

Losses are rarely more devastating, and it showed on Friday. Max Galvin hit a solo homer in the first inning for a 1-0 lead. As sharp as Miami was through seven innings in Thursday’s opener, the Canes appeared shell-shocked throughout Friday’s contest. Miami managed only five hits, drew just one walk and struck out 13 times.

The six Miami pitchers combined to allow 11 runs on 11 hits, 13 walks and three hit batters. Three Miami errors also contributed to the 11-1 run-rule loss in eight innings.

There are no more words for this one, only a question for Miami to ask itself: Is this who we are?

It was a resilient Miami group on Saturday. The Canes trailed 1-0 entering the seventh inning. A one-out single by freshman designated hitter Dylan Dubovik was followed by a two-run homer from freshman third baseman Gabriel Milano to give Miami a 2-1 lead.

Starter AJ Ciscar held Florida State down in the bottom of the inning. Miami extended its lead to 4-1 in the eighth when senior right fielder Derek Williams hit his 15th home run of the season and junior first baseman Alex Sosa followed with his 16th.

Ciscar pitched seven innings and allowed only one run while striking out four. Junior right-handed pitcher Nick Robert took over in relief. After recording a popup, he walked a batter, surrendered a double and then a single, trimming Miami’s lead to 4-2 with runners on first and third.

Robert was replaced by Glidewell. A sacrifice fly produced the second out and cut the lead to 4-3 before a foul out ended the inning.

Miami answered in the ninth. Dubovik led off with a single, and a sacrifice bunt by Brandon DeGoti moved him to second. A single by senior shortstop Vance Sheahan drove home Dubovik for a 5-3 lead. Fabio Peralta followed with an infield single.

Miami then executed a double steal, and a throwing error by the Florida State catcher allowed Sheahan to score, making it 6-3 while moving Peralta to third. Jake Ogden singled down the right field line to score Peralta for a 7-3 advantage.

Glidewell retired the side with a flyout, a solo home run allowed, then a popup and strikeout to close out a critical victory. Miami secured the No. 5 seed in the ACC Tournament and left Tallahassee knowing it could easily have taken the series.

The tournament began Tuesday, May 19, with 12-seed Stanford Cardinal baseball defeating 13-seed California Golden Bears baseball 11-4 to advance and face Miami at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

If Miami defeats Stanford, the Hurricanes will face No. 4 seed Boston College Eagles baseball in the quarterfinals Thursday at 7 p.m. on ACC Network. A win there would send Miami into Saturday’s semifinals against Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets baseball, Virginia Cavaliers baseball or Duke Blue Devils baseball.

The championship game is scheduled for noon Sunday and will air on ESPN2 and ACC Network. Regardless of the ACC Tournament outcome, Miami is expected to earn a berth in one of the NCAA Tournament’s 16 double-elimination regionals, most likely as a No. 2 seed.

The 64-team NCAA Tournament field will be announced at noon Monday, May 25, on ESPN2, with regional play beginning Friday, May 29. The 16 regional winners will advance to eight Super Regionals the following weekend, and the eight winners there will move on to College World Series play in Omaha beginning Friday, June 12.

Canes Corner will report on the ACC Tournament and upcoming NCAA regional action in the News Leader’s May 29 edition.

That’s it for now. Be well all, and Go Canes!