A weekend sweep of Georgia Tech looked a little dicey for Miami when the Yellow Jackets tied it up in the top of the fifth, 4-4. Instead, all it did was wake a sleeping giant as the Canes scored 13 runs over the next four innings, showing their depth and dominance in a spirited, 17-4 victory on the heels of Friday night’s, 22-1 blowout.
On a weekend when Florida State was swept at home by Clemson, Miami–in the hunt for a national seed—dominated a good-not-great conference foe in Georgia Tech, outscoring the Rambling Wreck, 42-5 over three games.
It was easy to call last weekend’s dominance over New York Institute of Technology a fluke, based on lesser competition, but Miami immediately answered its critics with a dominant, 18-hit, 14-run performance over No. 20 Florida Atlantic—fueled by some big time, two-out scoring.
Thursday night’s opener against Georgia Tech was highlighted by a dominant pitching performance by Thomas Woodrey, who pitched a complete game and a one-hitter, helping compensate for a five-hit performance by the Hurricanes.
Come Friday, a whole different ballgame courtesy of 21 hits and 22 runs, including a nine-RBI, three home run performance by David Thompson.
Miami got off to a slow start on Saturday, down 1-0 early and eventually tying things up in the bottom of the third. From there, a three-run fourth inning gave the Hurricanes a, 4-1 lead, but Georgia Tech tied things up in the top of the fifth, smacking two home runs off of starter Enrique Sosa, but the Hurricanes’ offensive machine was ready to get a few back.
Christopher Barr crushed a two-out, bases-loaded double in the bottom of the fifth, scoring Brandon Lopez and Jacob Heyward—who showed off his defensive skills earlier in the game with a diving catch in left field.
The Canes led, 6-4 and held the Yellow Jackets scoreless in the top of the sixth, before exploding in the bottom half of the inning.
Zack Collins smashed a three-run shot towards the left field scoreboard and a batter later, Thompson smashed his fourth home run in less than 24 hours—a solo shot, extending the lead to, 10-4. The Canes weren’t done, as Heyward fired a three-run shot, extending Miami’s lead to 13-4.
Heyward did it again in the bottom of the seventh with a bases-clearing double, while Barr dropped one into center, scoring Heyward, with the Canes picking up four more.
Sosa was roughed up a bit in the fifth inning, but struck out six on the day, while giving up eight hits. He was replaced by Cooper Hammond, who lasted 1.2 innings, surrendering one hit and a run. Michael Mediavilla and Bryan Garcia closed out the final 2.2 innings, gving up no hits, with Garcia striking out one in the top of the ninth.
Miami ends the regular season 42-13 and 22-8 in conference play, with the ACC Tournament getting underway next Tuesday in Greensboro. The Hurricanes are the Coastal Division champs and the No. 2 seed, heading up Pool B, while Louisville is the top-seeded team and atop Pool A—where Florida State is a four-seed, meaning the only potential Canes / Noles match-up would be in the title game.
Notre Dame is the third-seeded squad in Pool B, North Carolina State is third and the Virginia / Georgia Tech winner will be the eventual fourth.
Official match-ups will be released Sunday morning.