Gino DiMare discusses his team's mindset heading into ACC Tournament matchup with Duke

The Miami Hurricanes are squaring off against the Duke Blue Devils in pool play for the 2023 ACC Tournament on Friday afternoon. The Hurricanes currently lead the game 2-1 and they’ve gotten a solid performance from Ronaldo Gallo on the mound.

Miami head coach Gino DiMare took some time to speak with the ACC Network broadcast crew in the top of the fourth inning. So far, he’s been quite pleased with the performance from Ronaldo Gallo.

“Yeah. Just throwing all those pitches. He’s got a four-pitch mix. And he’s kind of got to mix it up. Of course, you know, they got the two out home run. But I think, for the most part, he’s thrown well. For us, obviously, we’ve got the lead 2-1 and hopefully we can get a few more innings out of him,” DiMare said.

The interview took place in the top of the fourth inning and Gallo had only allowed one run with four strikeouts through three innings.

The Miami head coach then discussed that the Hurricanes were taking the same mindset into their ACC Tournament pool play matchup as any other game. “Well, this is the most important game of the year and it’s been that way all year long. The game you’re playing that day’s gotta be the most important game. It’s an unusual thing when you’re playing a game that you know the next game obviously, is a meaningful game in the semifinals. I don’t want our guys to look ahead. Every game’s important nowadays. You know, it’d be nice to get to 40 wins. This would be 39. So, it’s a big game for us,” DiMare said.

Duke tied the game up 2-2 in the top of the fifth inning with a solo home run. Miami won the game 7-6, thanks to some clutch hitting and some excellent pitching by Andrew Walters to close it out. There were several home runs on Friday and that was expected coming in. Both Miami and Duke rank in the top four in the ACC in home runs this year.

Luke Storm belted two home runs for Duke on Friday evening. He’s one of the best power hitters in the country. The Canes had back-to-back home runs in the top of the sixth inning to tie the game. Miami has led the ACC in home runs this year and they’ve got several players on their roster with double digit home runs for the 2023 campaign.