Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Red-hot Hurricanes roll past Virginia
Fifth-inning rally helps UM wins ACC Tournament opener
Already three times this season, the Hurricanes have notched wins over conference rival Virginia.
But Thursday, the stakes were the highest they’ve been all year, with Miami knowing a strong showing in Durham would likely bolster its chances of hosting a regional during the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Virginia, meanwhile, was in need of a signature win to try and even earn a tournament berth.
Advantage: Miami.
The Hurricanes, ranked in the top 20 of all the major college baseball polls, belted out nine hits and capitalized on a threerun fifth inning to notch a 10-3 win over the Cavaliers in pool play at the ACC Tournament.
Thursday’s game marked the fifth straight time Miami has opened ACC Tournament play with a victory.
Miami, which has now won 12 of its last 15 games and swept its
four-game season series against Virginia (32-24), will face North Carolina on Friday for the opportunity to advance to Saturday’s tournament semifinals. The Tar Heels (39-17) took two of three against Miami in Chapel Hill earlier this season and opened their ACC Tournament run with a 3-2 win over Virginia on Wednesday.
With the game tied at 2 through four innings, Miami (39-17) capitalized on three straight hits from Jordan Lala, Anthony Vilar and Freddy Zamora — along with a Virginia error — to score three runs and a lead it would not relinquish.
The Hurricanes added five more runs in the top of eighth, while pitchers Brian Van Belle, Daniel Federman and Slade Cecconi kept Virginia’s lineup from building any kind of significant late threat.
Zamora and Vilar each finished with two hits and two RBI, while Lala had a double and an RBI. Adrian Del Castillo, meanwhile, hit his ninth home run of the season. Van Belle, a former Archbishop McCarthy standout, struck out five and improved to 9-2.