See ‘U’ in Omaha…

The winningest season under Jim Morris at The U looked like it was in serious doubt on Friday night.

52-9 and an .852 winning percentage mean squat when you squander game one and face elimination in back-to-back games.

Oh, what a difference two days can make.

The Miami Hurricanes are headed back to Omaha for the 23rd time in the program’s history.
Thank God, because anything else would’ve been deemed pure failure and an utter disaster.

Sunday’s 4-2 victory was the complete antithesis to Saturday’s 14-10 offensive shootout, much more similar to Friday night’s close-knit affair, where one team simply made a few more plays than the other.

Defense, pitching and unclutch hitting was the name of game three.

Miami looked to be following suit regarding the other top-ranked teams, pouncing on their opponents in the rubber match. Florida State had a 6-run first inning against Wichita State and Georgia tattooed N.C. State for 9 runs in their first at bat.

The Canes got on the board early with a three-spot. Blake Tekotte led off the action with a single to short. Jemile Weeks doubled down the left field like and drove in Tekotte. A batter later, Yonder Alonso picked up where he left off Saturday night, firing off a game-deciding two-run shot to left field.

Still smarting from Friday’s night’s long-ball that came up a few feet short, Alonso made the most of his weekend at bats, going 3-of-8 with 5 RBI and two big time home runs. Every time #19 came to the plate, it was obvious he had something to prove.

Arizona got one back in the bottom of the first and Miami next answered with one in the top of the third. Weeks’ bat remained hot, his legs moving and his baseball IQ sharp as a tack – turning in a single into an extra base after a fielding error. An Alonso pop up sent Weeks to third and a Mark Sobolewski ground out brought Weeks home for the Canes final run.

A rare throwing error gave the Wildcats another run in the bottom of the fourth and at 4-2, that’s as much offensive action as this game would muster up. Enough for a win, but hardly enough for a fan base on pins and needles after Saturday’s offensive firepower. Who’d have expected five straight innings of scoreless college baseball in the third game of a Super Regional?

The Canes had 7 hits on the day and 3 came courtesy of the first inning. The Wildcats topped that with 8 hits, but only produced 2 runs.

In a cruel twist of fate, it was Arizona who couldn’t deliver the clutch hit when it counted. On Friday night, Miami stranded 9 batters and went 1-of-12 with runners in scoring position. Come Sunday, the Wildcats went 2-of-17 and blew multiple opportunities to make something happen.

The losers will blame it on ice cold bats, while the victors will be quick to point to superior pitching.

Enrique Garcia went six innings, allowing 7 hits and 2 runs, while striking out 4. Kyle Bellamy threw 2/3 of an inning in relief, allowing no hits and striking out 1. Chris Hernandez was available for one inning, giving up the Cats’ remaining hit and striking out 1 as well, but the hero proved to Carlos Gutierrez, earning another shot to make up for Friday night’s three-run, extra inning blunder.

Gutierrez was summoned late in the eighth inning. Hernandez struck out C.J. Zeigler with a called third strike on a full count. T.J. Steele singled up the middle and stole second while Hernandez was in the process of walking Mike Weldon on four straight balls. After a ground out advancing both runners, Morris went to the bullpen.

Ahead 1-2 in the count, Gutierrez plunked Dillion Baird, loading the bases and giving UA their dream scenario as UM would be down to their last at bat and deflated as all hell if the Cats could spark a late rally.

Enter Rafael Valenzuela and your Pontiac Game Changing Performance.

Valenzuela swung at the fourth offering and sent a nubber towards third, which Gutierrez barehanded and fired over to Alonso at first for the inning’s third out. Disaster averted and for all intents and purposes – game, set, match. Alonzo fired the ball into the infield turf, as to say “not in our house” and put a final exclamation point on what proved to be a stellar defensive stand.

Miami had a shot at some insurance runs in the ninth, but stranded 2 in an affair that saw 7 Canes left on base. Jason Hagerty doubled to right field and Adan Severino walked, both after Dennis Raben started the inning with a ground out. Hagerty and Severino both advanced on a wild pitch, but both Yamani Grandal and Tekotte struck out swinging.

What the offense couldn’t do, the defense again made up for. After Weeks mishandled a routine grounder to start the bottom of the ninth, Gutierrez struck out Brad Glenn which paved the way for another Jon Gaston at bat and would-be hero moment.

Gaston stuck a dagger in the Canes’ collective heart Friday night with his 11th inning three-run game changing shot. As the right fielder crossed the plate, he made a “shhhh” gesture towards Hurricane Nation, obviously forgetting this was a three-game series.

Though he had an impact on Saturday’s contest, going 2-for-4, Gaston proved to be worthless on Sunday with a dreaded 0-for-5 in the final box score. His ninth inning at bat, the cocky one went out with a whimper instead of a bang, catching a piece of Gutierrez’s first offering and popping it up to Alonso for the inning’s second out.

One out from Omaha, chalk another up to a stellar defensive moment as Ziegler fired a shot between short and third, which Ryan Jackson made a great break on. A difficult stop and an even more difficult throw from the infield/outfield lip, Jackson lazered one into Alonso’s glove for the final out of the series.

Pandemonium ensued as the Canes celebrated the back-to-back victories and College World Series berth, while Gaston and his not-so-merry band of Wildcats shed their dugout tears and were left wondering how things could turn so quickly after Friday night’s upset.

Miami is Omaha bound, while a cocky Arizona bunch has nothing more than a long flight back to Tuscon and time to ponder where, when and why it all fell apart after once leading this series, 1-0.

The Canes will have a few days to rest up and will head to the College World Series a battle-tested bunch.

After a 4-0 run in the talent-heavy ACC tourney, Miami took faced some solid foes in the Coral Gables Regional, going 3-0 against Bethune-Cookman, Missouri and Ole Miss.

While fans were still scratching their heads after an inconspicuously talent-heavy Regional tourney, Miami then draws Arizona in the Super Regional – a former #1 earlier this season, a talented bunch peaking at the right time and featuring two pitchers taken in the first round of last week’s MLB Draft.

Florida State gets Wichita State. Georgia gets N.C. State. LSU gets UC Irvine. Arizona State gets Fresno State. North Carolina gets Coastal Carolina. Top-ranked Miami gets a fiesty Arizona bunch.

On paper, sure most of the aforementioned lesser opponents are ranked in he middle of top 25 – but most built up their records beating up on lesser competition, playing in lesser conferences.

The Pac-10 is no joke this season. Just ask sixth-ranked Cal State Fullerton, whose season is done after getting swept by Stanford.

Being that Miami went 5-1 these past few weekends, the focus is off the unfair regional seedings and can instead be turned towards tougher competition making the Canes much more battle-tested entering next weekend.

Miami ducked no one down the stretch and is now 9-1 in the postseason. Georgia awaits, as does the winner/loser of the Stanford v. Florida State match up.

The action begins on Saturday and the Canes have a good shot at bringing home their fifth title in school’s history barring the pitching holds up, the bats stay hot, the defense remains stifling and the baseball gods allow The U some good fortune in a sacred place that has been hit or miss over the years.

Congrats, Canes. As much as it’s become almost expected after 22 previous trips to Omaha, it’s never taken for granted.