First-Place Baseball Hoping to Clinch Title
SERIES INFORMATION – GAMES 53-55
#4 MIAMI HURRICANES (38-14, 22-5 ACC) vs. North Carolina Tar Heels (31-21, 14-13 ACC)
Coral Gables, Fla. • Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field (4,999)
Thurs., May 15 (7:30 p.m. ET) • Fri., May 16 (7:30 p.m.) • Sat., May 17 (12 p.m.)
TV: CSS/ ESPN 3 (Thursday, Friday) | Talent: Jason Solodkin (pbp), Wicho Hernandez (color)
TV: ESPNU (Saturday only) | Talent: Joe Davis (pbp), Eduardo Perez (color)
Flagship Radio: WQAM 560, WQAM.com (all three games) | Joe Zagacki, Mike Levine
Student Radio: WVUM 90.5 FM, WVUM.org (all three) | AJ Ricketts
SERIES HISTORY
The Miami Hurricanes hold a 30-24-1 all-time series advantage over the Tar Heels, including a head-to-head series lead of 19-9 in Coral Gables. Miami dropped three of its four games against UNC in 2013, but swept the Heels in their last visit to Mark Light in 2012.
PROJECTED STARTERS
Game One: MIAMI LHP Chris Diaz (9-0, 2.05 ERA) vs. UNC RHP Trent Thornton (7-3, 2.06 ERA)
Game Two: MIAMI LHP Andrew Suarez (5-2, 2.53 ERA) vs. UNC RHP Benton Moss (3-2, 3.79 ERA)
Game Three: MIAMI LHP Bryan Radziewski (6-2, 3.38 ERA) vs. UNC RHP Zac Gallen (5-3, 4.43 ERA)
WEEKEND NEWS AND NOTES
END OF THE ROAD…
• No. 4 Miami will wrap up its 2014 regular season this weekend beginning with Thursday’s series opener against the North Carolina Tar Heels. First pitch is set for 7:30 p.m. from Mark Light Field.
• Miami holds an all-time series advantage of 30-24-1 over the Tar Heels, including a 19-9 head-to-head lead in Coral Gables. The Hurricanes swept then-No. 3 UNC in its last visit in 2012.
• Miami dropped three of four games against the Tar Heels in 2013, but handed then-No. 1 UNC its first loss of the season in a 4-1 victory on March 15 – snapping Carolina’s perfect 16-0 start.
STREAKING SUCCESS…
• Miami is the hottest college baseball team in the nation – having won 25 of its last 27 games – and remains in sole possession of first place in the ACC.
• The Hurricanes’ current 15-game road winning streak is the second-longest in program history, short of a 16-game stretch during the team’s 2001 national championship-winning season.
• With its impressive run, which included what was the nation’s longest winning streak at 14 games (March 26 – April 19), Miami moved into the top five of a national poll for the first time since March 2009 when it was ranked No. 4 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper on April 28.
• With a No. 7 rating from Baseball America on May 12, Miami earned its highest ranking from the publication since March 2009
• Miami set a new program record with 10 consecutive ACC wins during its14-game winning streak, besting the previous long (nine consecutive) by one win.
HISTORY IN THE MAKING?…
• With just three games remaining in the 2014 regular season, the Hurricanes are on the verge of making history in the ACC.
• Since conference expansion prior to the 2005 season, no ACC team has ever won 25 games in league play. Miami enters the weekend 22-5.
• Miami has already accomplished something no other ACC team has since 2005: sweep four three-game road series in a single season. The previous high was three.
• The Hurricanes’ best record in league play came in 2008, when it finished 23-5 and earned a No. 1 seed at the ACC Championship in Jacksonville, Fla. With just one win against the Tar Heels, Miami will match its best single-season ACC win output.
