Baseball to Retire Morris’ No. 3, Open ACC Play vs. GT
Miami (10-2, 0-0 ACC) vs. Georgia Tech (9-4, 0-0 ACC)
Roster | Coaches | Schedule | Game Notes
March 8-10, 2019 | 7 p.m. | 7 p.m. | 1 p.m.
Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field | Coral Gables, Fla. | Buy Tickets | Directions
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami baseball program will honor a legend as part of its ACC opening series against Georgia Tech this weekend at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.
The Hurricanes (10-2) will retire former head baseball coach Jim Morris’ number 3 in a pregame ceremony on Friday night at 7 p.m. Known as “3,” Morris was one of the most successful head coaches in college baseball history with 1,594 career victories as a Division I skipper.
In 25 seasons at Miami, Morris won 1,090 games, made the NCAA postseason in 23 straight years, reached the College World Series 13 times and won National Championships in 1999 and 2001. Honoring Morris in advance of a series against the Yellow Jackets (9-4) is fitting, as the legendary head coach was at the helm of Georgia Tech’s baseball program from 1982-1993 before taking over in Coral Gables.
All home games this season will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra. Saturday’s game will be broadcast live on 790 The Ticket, while all baseball games, home and away, can be heard on WVUM 90.5 FM and WVUM.org. Sunday’s series finale will also be carried in Spanish on 990 AM ESPN Deportes.
Junior right-hander Evan McKendry (3-0, 1.89 ERA), will go for his fourth straight win, opposing Georgia Tech RHP Xzavion Curry in a Friday battle of ACC aces that will begin shortly after the conclusion of the jersey retirement ceremony. In his last start, McKendry held UMBC to a pair of unearned runs on three hits over six innings while striking out eight.
Sophomore right-hander Chris McMahon (1-0, 1.53 ERA) will face off against junior LHP Connor Thomas (1-1, 3.79 ERA) beginning at 7 p.m. Saturday. Sunday’s finale is set for a 1 p.m. first pitch and will feature Miami’s Brian Van Belle (2-1, 1.06 ERA) opposite Georgia Tech sophomore LHP Brant Hunter (0-1, 0.69 ERA).
The Hurricanes lead the all-time series, 61-38-2, but Georgia Tech currently has a three-game win streak after sweeping UM in 2018. Georgia Tech enters the series after winning a pair of midweek games against Kennesaw State, winning 10-7 on Tuesday at KSU and 9-1 Wednesday in Atlanta.
Miami’s heads into the weekend coming off a 6-1 victory over Appalachian State on Wednesday. The Hurricanes have one of the most potent offenses in the ACC, entering the weekend with an ACC-best .329 team batting average, while Miami’s 139 hits are the most in the ACC. Miami leads the ACC in doubles (28), is second in slugging (.526) and on-base percentage (.426) and ranks and third in runs (102).
Sophomore first baseman Alex Toral is second in the ACC with a team-best seven home runs, trailing ACC leader Kyle McCann of Georgia Tech by two homers. Fellow sophomore Raymond Gil is second on the team and tied for fifth in the conference with four homers after hitting three blasts last week.
Gil has been one of Miami’s hottest hitters lately, batting .444 (8-for-18) with three homers, five runs scored and four RBI over the last five games.
Along with Toral and Gil, shortstop Freddy Zamora has been red hot at the plate. The sophomore is batting .529 (9-for-17 with three doubles, a home run, eight runs scored and seven RBI over the last five games.
A pair of freshmen hitters have been especially effective lately, as cleanup hitter Adrian Del Castillo has hit safely in all 12 games to begin his Miami career. The sweet-swinging lefty has the longest hitting streak to start a Hurricane career since Esteban Tresgallo hit safely in the first 15 games of 2013.
Jordan Lala is another freshman making an impact, especially since moving into the leadoff spot against FIU on Feb. 27. Since moving to the top of the order, Lala is 7-for-18 with a double, a home run, eight runs scored, five walks, three stolen bases and four RBI.
The speedy outfielder, who had his first career three-hit game on Wednesday, smashed the first pitch he saw from Appalachian State starter Cameron Kepley over the right field wall for his first career homer.Lala, who has started all 12 games in 2019, is 13-for-38 (.342) with 14 runs scored, two doubles, a home run, 11 walks and 6-for-6 on stolen base attempts in his debut season.
Miami added a recruiting class ranked eighth by D1Baseball and No. 10 nationwide by Baseball America to a group of 18 returning letterwinners from a 2018 team that finished 28-26 overall and 16-13 in ACC play.
Three members of Miami’s recruiting class were selected in the 2018 MLB First-Year Player Draft; Del Castillo (36thround, White Sox), Anthony Vilar (37thround, Cubs) and Slade Cecconi (38thround, Orioles) all spurned professional overtures for a career at Miami after being selected in the 2018 MLB Draft.
Cecconi (#2), Del Castillo (#8) and Vilar (#48) were among the Top 50 Impact Freshmen in the ACC according to D1Baseball. Freshman LHP/UT JP Gates was ranked 10th among ACC freshmen. Baseball America rated Cecconi (No. 12), Gates (No. 16) and Del Castillo (No. 31) among the top 50 freshmen nationally.
The Hurricanes’ home schedule includes series with NC State (March 22-24), Florida State (April 5-7), Virginia Tech (April 26-28) and Duke (May 16-18), among others.
Miami’s road schedule also includes trips to North Carolina (March 15-17), Pittsburgh (March 29-31), Virginia (April 12-14), Louisville (April 18-20) and Wake Forest (May 10-12).
