Hurricanes rally for ACC win over Irish

After a roller coaster season that has included both a 10-game win streak late in the year and some ugly losses early, the Miami Hurricanes headed up to the ACC Tournament knowing if they wanted to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament, they’d likely have to win the conference championship outright — or, at the least, make the tournament championship game.

After some late game heroics, all of those goals are still within reach.

The Hurricanes rallied to score five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning and then held on in the ninth for a 6-2 win over Notre Dame in their ACC Tournament opener late Tuesday night at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

With the victory, the Hurricanes have now won 11 straight ahead of their late Thursday-night matchup with Clemson.

A win against the Tigers will ensure Miami emerges as the winner of Pool B in Durham and will send the Hurricanes (28-25) into Saturday’s ACC semifinals.

“You know, I think [pitcher] Jeb [Bargfeldt] said it. Jeb said, ‘Hey, play like the season is on the line, let's go,’” Hurricanes outfielder Michael Burns told reporters in Durham, N.C. “[Director of baseball operations] GM [McDaniel] also — he's like, ‘Come on, fellas, season is on the line,’ and the season was on the line. So we got it done today.”

The Stetson Hatters are one of the hottest baseball teams in the state.

The Hatters rolled to a 7-2 win over NJIT on Wednesday to open Atlantic Sun Tournament play and added a 2-1 victory of Kennesaw State on Thursday afternoon.

Stetson is the No. 1 seed in the A-Sun tournament and has a rare chance to host an NCAA Regional.

No. 1 seed UF’s SEC Tournament opener against Arkansas was pushed to this morning due to storms. First pitch is set for 11 a.m.