Canes rally late to beat Jackets, help NCAA chances
Things were looking grim for the Hurricanes on Sunday.
Then Adrian Del Castillo came to the plate in the bottom of the seventh with one out, bases loaded and Miami — which already had scored two runs on Tony Jenkins’ double that inning to cut Georgia Tech’s lead to 4-3 — sweating out another sub-par performance.
Boom. Del Castillo ripped a single to left that scored Jenkins and Jordan Lala to cap a four-run inning, put UM up for good 5-4 and give the Hurricanes the weekend series home victory against the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Coastal Division leader.
Closer Carson Palmquist, the ACC saves leader, came through again to pitch the final two innings. His 12 saves are fourth-best in the nation.
At this point, UM (29-16, 17-15 Atlantic Coast Conference) needs every win it can get, as the season is nearing the end and the Hurricanes are still battling to make the NCAA tournament.
The Canes opened the series Friday with a 14-3 loss before rebounding with Saturday’s 10-3 win and Sunday’s thriller.
“Without a doubt our biggest win of the year,’’ coach Gino DiMare said. “It’s a much-needed one. It seems like it’s been a little while since we’ve played a game like this, which is crazy to say. This is the kind of baseball I love being a part of coaching and I know players love being a part of — just so much energy. Just a big, big win in terms of the meaning of the game, where we’re at in the ACC, where we’re at in all kinds of factors out there.
“It wasn’t one of those where we were down seven, eight, nine runs like we’ve been in some of these losses. You could just feel that we still [had] a chance.“
Georgia Tech fell to 2520, 19-14.
UM’s left-handed junior Spencer Bodanza earned his first win by allowing no runs and no hits in one inning.
After a Tuesday home game against FAU, Miami will travel to No. 15 Louisville for a three-game, season-ending weekend series that begins Thursday.
“The guys had a lot of energy,” Jenkins said. “We knew what we had to do today, especially after Friday night. It was all a mindset for us. We went down a little bit early. But at the end of the day we continue to fight.
“I think we’re in a good spot . ... We got a little momentum going right now and we just gotta keep it going.”
The ACC Tournament is May 25-30 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
After that, the NCAA tournament begins the first weekend of June with the regionals, for which the field of 64 will be announced May 31.
Susan Miller Degnan: 305-376-3366, @smillerdegnan