No. 24 Baseball Opens Morris' Final Season Friday
Miami (0-0, 0-0 ACC) vs. Rutgers (0-0, 0-0 B1G)
Roster | Coaches | Schedule | Game Notes
Feb. 16-18, 2018 | 7 p.m. | 7 p.m. | 1 p.m.
Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field | Coral Gables, Fla.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The No. 24 University of Miami baseball team opens its 25th and final season under the direction of head coach Jim Morris on Fri., Feb. 16 with the opener of a three-game series against Rutgers at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.
First pitch for the season opener is set for 7 p.m. Friday. The first 1,000 fans through the gates will receive a bobblehead commemorating Morris’ final season at Miami, and there will be a special postgame fireworks show. First pitch for Saturday’s game is set for 7 p.m., and first pitch for Sunday’s series finale is set for 1 p.m.
All home games this season will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra. All baseball games, home and away, can be heard on WVUM 90.5 FM and WVUM.org.
Senior lefthander and second-team All-ACC selection Jeb Bargfeldt (7-3, 2.28 ERA in 2017) earned the Opening Day nod opposite Rutgers’ righthander John O’Reilly (4-7, 5.87 ERA).
Sophomore righthander Gregory Veliz (6-4, 3.38) will start Game 2 for Miami against Scarlet Knights RHP Serafino Brito (3-9, 4.84 ERA).
Sophomore Evan McKendry (4-2, 4.10 ERA) will close the series Sunday. Rutgers’ starter is TBA.
Miami added a recruiting class ranked No. 8 nationwide by Baseball America to a group of 15 returning letterwinners from a 2017 team that finished 31-27 overall and 16-13 in ACC play.
Two members of Miami’s recruiting class were selected in the 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft; righthanded pitcher Christopher McMahon was taken by Milwaukee in the 33rd round while infielder Raymond Gil was picked in the 37th round by Oakland. McMahon (No. 76), first baseman Alex Toral (No. 199), outfielder Gabe Rivera (No. 329) and first baseman Connor Allen (No. 440) were all ranked among Baseball America’s top 500 draft-eligible prospects.
The Hurricanes’ home schedule also includes series with Florida (Feb. 23-25), Notre Dame (March 9-11), Virginia (March 23-25), North Carolina (April 6-8) and Boston College (May 17-19), among others.
Miami’s road schedule includes trip to Georgia Tech (March 30 – April 1), Clemson (April 13-15) and Florida State (April 27-29).
