Cabezas To Take The Hill in ACC Championship Opener
Miami (27-25, 16-13 ACC) vs. Notre Dame (24-28, 12-18 ACC) / #5 Clemson (43-13, 22-8 ACC)
Roster | Coaches | Schedule | Championship Notes
May 22-27, 2018
ACC Baseball Championship | Durham Bulls Athletic Park | Durham, N.C.
DURHAM, N.C. – Junior righthander Andrew Cabezas will take the mound in Miami’s ACC Baseball Championship opener Tuesday night at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Seeded No. 7 for the tournament, the Hurricanes are joined in Pool B by No. 2 seed Clemson and No. 11 seed Notre Dame.
Cabezas (6-4, 4.12 ERA) will oppose Notre Dame’s Scott Tully (5-1, 4.40), whose only loss this season came at the hands of the Hurricanes during the regular season.
The Hurricanes, who carry a 21-20 all-time mark in the conference tournament, have won at least two games in three straight trips to the ACC Championship, including their last two trips to Durham (2015, 2016). Miami plays Clemson Thursday, May 24 at 7 p.m.
Under the current format, now in its second year, the winners of each Pool advance to the semifinals Saturday (1 p.m., 5 p.m.), with the ACC Championship Game set for Sunday (noon).
Winners of 10 straight games, the Hurricanes are looking to extend the second-longest active winning streak in Division I baseball.
Cabezas will be pitching in the same ballpark where he made his first start of the year against the host Duke Blue Devils. On March 18, Cabezas tossed six shutout innings with five strikeouts to help Miami salvage its series with Duke in an 8-2 win. He has been a mainstay in the rotation ever since.
The start against the Blue Devils was Cabezas’ first since his freshman year of 2016, when he started an NCAA Super Regional game against Boston College and helped guide Miami to the 25th College World Series appearance in program history.
Cabezas delivered a dominant performance in last year’s ACC Championship at Louisville Slugger Field in Louisville, Ky. The fiery righthander delivered 6.1 scoreless innings of relief in an eventual 13-inning win over Georgia Tech, striking out 10 and helping Miami win its group to advance to the semifinals.
In three career appearances at the ACC Championship, Cabezas has compiled 9.0 scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts and four walks.
The Hurricanes enjoyed success against both of its Pool B opponents during the regular season. Miami won two of three games against the Fighting Irish at Mark Light Field (March 9-10) and also captured two of three over then-No. 8 Clemson from April 13-14 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
Miami opens its postseason Tuesday against the Fighting Irish at 7 p.m. The game is slated for broadcast on RSN, 790 The Ticket and WVUM 90.5 FM.
