Thomas Woodrey pitched a gem and Miami rolled to their tenth-consecutive victory on Thursday night, taking out Georgia Tech, 3-0.
The junior left-hander was responsible for the Hurricanes’ first complete-game and one-hit, shutout in over a decade, while the eight-ranked team in the nation looks to stay hot with the postseason around the corner.
Miami bats cooled off a bit, with the Hurricanes only with five hits and three one-run innings, but a dominant pitching performance was a welcomed change and a stark reminder that it takes balance for ultimate success.
Woodrey’s career high-tying seven strikeouts will make headlines, but equally as important was an RBI single from Christopher Barr in the third, an RBI groundout of George Iskenderian in the fifth and a Zack Collins in the eighth, plating Barr, who got into scoring position by way of a sacrifice bunt by Iskenderian.
The Canes had other scoring opportunities that fell flat. Miami loaded the bases in the opening frame when David Thompson grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Still, Woodrey rose up, while UM batters hung in there and picked their spots against Jonathan King, who’s seven-inning, three-hit performance was overshadowed by Miami’s hurler and a few clutch batters.
Ten-in-a-row is good, but eleven would be better. So would twelve, for that matter.
Staying hot rolling into Greensboro is key; where anything always seems to happen at the ACC Tournaments. Miami needs to take care of Coastal business and find its way to the weekend, facing Louisville, or whoever in the Atlantic can take them down.
Until then, it’s all about the Yellow Jackets.
Miami and Georgia Tech are back at it for Game Two at 7:00 p.m. ET on Friday night at The Light. The game can be streamed on ESPN3, while both 560 WQAM and WVUM 90.5 will have the play-by-play.