Yohandy Morales discusses win vs. Duke, punching ticket to ACC Tournament Semifinals

The Miami Hurricanes rallied a number of times on Friday in a classic back-and-forth battle with the Duke Blue Devils in the 2023 ACC Baseball Tournament. The Hurricanes prevailed 7-6 after closer Andrew Walters shut down the Duke bats in the ninth inning. Miami also got some clutch hitting from one of the best power hitters in all of college baseball, first team All-ACC selection Yohandy “Yo-Yo” Morales.

Morales belted a solo shot in the eighth inning to tie the game up at 6-6. With the win, the Hurricanes officially punched their tickets to the ACC Baseball Tournament Semifinals on Saturday. They’ll face the No. 1 seed Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Saturday at 1:00 PM EST.

Following Friday night’s win, Morales spoke with the ACC Network crew.

Morales finished the day going 3-for-5 with a home run, four RBs, and a run scored. First, he talked about the last few innings in which the ‘Canes delivered the clutch plays when they needed them the most to bring home the win.

“I mean it felt good. Every time they scored, we came out and capitalized. And we scored every time they scored. So, everybody in front of me did their job. And then I came out and tied the game. And then Renzo [Gonzalez] came up with a clutch hit, give us the lead,” Morales said.

The broadcast crew was impressed when Morales drilled his home run on 0-2 count. Back to back sliders. Then, he cranked a fastball to tie the game.

“I mean, I’m always on a heater. He probably would have had me if he’d thrown another slider in the dirt, but it was a fastball away that I got my hands on,” Morales said.

What was the message that his head coach Gino DiMare gave the team before their matchup with Duke?

“I mean we talked and said every time we play it’s the most important game of the year. And it was. And we did what we did. Big game today. Great game that we played. Duke had an amazing game out here. It was just an amazing game. He said most important game of the year. We’ve got to win today and we got the job done,” Morales said.

The broadcast crew then noted that Morales reminded him of Harold Martinez. They asked if Morales and Martinez were friends. “He was actually texting me today, he was like, ‘Oh you better stay on the fastballs today, so…you made me think of him right now.”

The Hurricanes have six batters that have belted double digit home runs for the 2023 campaign. The depth and power of their bats are big reasons why they’ll be such a dangerous opponent in the postseason this year.