Streaking Canes still need help making tournament
Don’t count the Miami Hurricanes out. In the midst of the nation’s second-longest win streak — eight consecutive victories — in Division I college baseball, the program that won the College World Series in 1982, 1985, 1999 and 2001 still hopes to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. UM will usher out the Jim Morris era today through Saturday in the fifinal home series of Morris’ 25-season coaching tenure in Coral Gables, with Saturday’s tickets selling for $3 apiece (Morris is nicknamed “3’’ for his No. 3 jersey) to draw a full house. Theo pp on ennt: At la tic Coast Conference cellar-dwelling Boston College, at 17-30 overall and 7-20 in the conference, by far the worst team in the league. It took the Hurricanes (2525, 14-13 ACC) this long to get to .500. But to achieve their goal of an at-large bid in the 64-team NCAA Tournament and avoid the unthinkable— missing the postseason two years in a row after a national-record streak of 44 NCAA berths — the Canes must sweep the Eagles and likely must at least get into the ACC Tournament championship game. The only automatic way for UM to qualify for the NCAA tourney would be by winning the ACC Tournament that begins Tuesday and runs through May 27 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in North Carolina. But short of that, the Canes must win all three against BC, which would give them an 11-game win streak heading into the ACC Tournament, and put the over Canes .500, required by the 10-member NCAA Division I Baseball Committee to even be considered for the postseason. UM’s current R PI :59, which isn’t strong enough for the Canes to feel secure about an at-large bid. The Can es could have helped themselves a great deal had Tuesday night’s game against Stetson (4011), which has a No. 7 RPI of 300 Division I college baseball teams, not been canceled in the bottom of the fififth because of rain and lightning. Stetson’s win streak currently leads the nation at 10 games, and the score was 1-1. UM-LSU kickoffff set: ESPN announced the start time for the Hurricanes’ season- opening football game. Miami will play LSU at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 2, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.