Hurricanes to Battle Heels at Mark Light Field
Miami (12-15, 6-5 ACC) vs. North Carolina (19-10, 8-4 ACC)
Roster | Coaches | Schedule | Game Notes
April 6-8, 2018 | 7 p.m. | 7 p.m. | 1 p.m.
Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field | Coral Gables, Fla.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Miami Hurricanes will host ACC Coastal Division foe North Carolina in a weekend series at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field from April 6-8.
The Hurricanes, who are looking to snap a five-game losing streak Friday, will hope to continue their run of dominance against the Tar Heels at The Light.
Miami has not lost a series to North Carolina in Coral Gables since 2008, and has won four straight series against the Heels at home – including sweeps in 2010, 2012 and 2016.
Senior lefthander Jeb Bargfeldt (2-3, 3.63 ERA) will start the opener opposite North Carolina’s Tyler Baum (3-0, 4.38 ERA).
North Carolina’s 8-4 record in ACC play is second-best in the ACC Coastal Division; the Heels (19-10) are coming off a three-game sweep of Wake Forest last weekend and a midweek win over South Carolina in Charlotte, N.C.
Miami is coming off a 7-4 loss to FAU Wednesday at The Light.
“We have to play better,” head coach Jim Morris said after the loss. “We have to play smarter and cut back on our mental mistakes…we have to keep battling. I think our guys are battling hard. We’re just making too many mistakes right now.”
Despite plating just four runs against the Owls, the Hurricanes will look for similar results at the plate on a night when they connected for 13 hits – one more than FAU.
Six different Hurricanes recorded multi-hit performances Wednesday: Freddy Zamora (2-for-4), Willy Escala (2-for-5), Isaac Quinones (2-for-5), Raymond Gil (2-for-4) and junior Romy Gonzalez, who had his first three-hit game of the spring (3-for-4) and scored two runs.
“A good sign was Romy getting three hits…Isaac keeps swinging the bat and doing the job he’s doing, and getting Romy hot, Gil got a couple hits – we have to build on the hitting,” Morris said.
Miami might also see Gabe Rivera back in the lineup after he went 1-for-3 and scored a run as a pinch hitter. Rivera would be making the second start of his career after starting Sunday’s finale in Georgia Tech on April 1.
He connected on a solo home run in Saturday’s 13-4 loss to the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta on March 31.
Sophomore Evan McKendry (4-3, 3.12 ERA) will oppose Tar Heels righthander Austin Bergner (4-1, 3.58 ERA) in Game 2 while junior Andrew Cabezas (2-3, 3.58 ERA) will take the mound opposite North Carolina’s Rodney Hutchison (3-1, 5.18 ERA) in the finale.
All games will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra and WVUM 90.5 FM. 790 The Ticket will carry the action on Friday and Saturday while 990 AM ESPN Deportes will broadcast Sunday.
