Stakes high as Miami hosts Duke in weekend series likely to influence regional host decision
Home sweet home. The Miami Hurricanes have been dominant in Coral Gables this entire season, boasting a 26-4 home record and winning all seven of their home series.
Their final chapter of the regular season comes with the stakes at their highest.
No. 11 Miami hosts the No. 16 Duke Blue Devils tonight through Saturday at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field. The winner of the series will most likely clinch hosting a regional in two weeks, and Miami’s players know the pressure of this weekend’s affair.
“We’ve been working hard all year, the moment has come,” third baseman Yohandy Morales said. “Being first in the [Coastal Division] will help our pitchers and everything in the ACC Tournament.”
Miami enters this weekend with a 16-11 record in ACC play, second in the Coastal on tiebreaker to No. 21 Virginia. Duke enters this weekend a half game behind the Hurricanes and Cavaliers, with the Hurricanes needing to better Virginia’s series at Georgia Tech to win its first ACC Coastal title since 2016.
Winning the Coastal would mean that Miami would choose its off day during pool play at the ACC Tournament in Durham, North Carolina next week.
For Hurricanes’ head coach Gino DiMare, the focus of this weekend is to keep playing good baseball before the conference tournament.
“You cannot get ahead of yourself… I want to play good baseball,” DiMare said. “Whether that means we’re the two seed, or the four seed, it is what it is. You can’t control that, so we’ll just make sure we’re playing good baseball.”
DiMare will emphasize to his team that there is a premium to playing well at the ACC Tournament, where Miami could seed as high as two, or as low as seven, after this Duke series.
This weekend means more to a lot of players on this Hurricanes team besides postseason implications. It could be the last time numerous Hurricanes, including Miami natives, represent the Orange and Green at The Light. That has been a opportunity that junior shortstop Dominic Pitelli, who grew up playing with Morales in travel ball, will never forget.
“It’s something I can dream of, or ask for, and it’s happening.” Pitelli said. “Playing next to Yohandy, he’s definitely one of my favorite players to play with.”
Pitelli and Morales are part of a group of six Hurricanes with double-digit home runs this season. It’s the first time since 1998 that Miami has had five players hit 10 or more home runs in a season.
Miami sits on 99 home runs this season, just one away from the century mark in 51 games played. But the power surge hasn’t been a surprise for Morales.
“I saw us hitting the ball, especially from the fall,” Morales said. “We’ve all connected well, we’ve all been putting in the work, and it’s been paying off.”
Duke comes into Coral Gables with a 34-17 record on the season. The Blue Devils’ pitching staff has been strong all season, ranking second in the ACC in team ERA, strikeouts, and shutouts this season.
“One of the things I’ve noticed is they don’t go with their starters for that long,” DiMare said. “They get stronger as they bring guys in, they have a lot of depth in their bullpen. You might see a different pitcher every time you come up, that makes it hard.”
Overcoming adversity is something that Miami has thrived on over the last month of the season, winning road series against then-ranked opponents in North Carolina and Louisville.
Right-handed pitcher Alejandro Torres is feeling confident about the Hurricanes’ chances of overcoming the challenges the rest of the season has to offer.
“The trust we have in one another here, you can’t compare it to anything else,” Torres said. We’re just resilient. From pitch one, to the last pitch of the game, you’re going to see Miami baseball.”
Miami opens the series Thursday night at 7:00 P.M., with RHP Gage Ziehl getting the ball. The teams play Friday night at 7 p.m. and then conclude the series on Saturday at 1 p.m.
