Writing this more as a formality right now, the focus on Miami Basketball, opposed to a slumping baseball program.
While the Canes won three straight in Greensboro, en route to an ACC Tournament championship in basketball, the baseball squad was a few counties away getting punked by North Carolina on the diamond.
UM won Friday night’s contest, 4-1, but fell 14-2 on Saturday and 4-1 on Sunday, dropping two of three in Chapel Hill.
The twelve-run loss in game two was brutal. Miami pitchers gave up sixteen-hits and a forgettable eleven-run third inning, blowing the game completely out of the water.
North Carolina scored fourteen and left fourteen runners stranded, in a showdown that could’ve been much uglier than the final score. The Canes were down 14-0 before finally tacking on two in the top of the eighth.
On Sunday, a 4-1 loss where both teams recorded seven hits apiece, but one where Miami stranded ten runners to North Carolina’s four.
Even worse, this game was a tight one, tied 1-1, before the Tar Heels blew it open with three in the bottom of the eighth. With the series on the line against the top-ranked team in the nation, the Canes fell apart as A.J. Salcines gave up a three-run shot, on he heels of a two-out double and a walk.
Miami has a two-game stint with Columbia this week, and if recent history serves as any guide, it should be a few hard-fought wins for the Canes, before welcoming Virginia Tech south next weekend.