Canes Baseball Ascends Into Top 15
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami baseball program continued its rise up the rankings, entering the top 15 for the first time since 2016 in rankings released Monday.
The Hurricanes (36-15, 16-10 ACC) jumped up four spots to No. 18 in the Baseball America Top 25 and climbed two spots to No. 17 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. The Canes moved up two positions in the D1Baseball Top 25 to No. 18. Miami made its biggest move up the polls in Collegiate Baseball’s NCAA Div. I Baseball Poll, jumping up 10 spots to No. 12. The Hurricanes also rose two positions in the NCBWA Division I Poll, landing at No. 15.
Miami went 2-1 in the week, taking the first two games of a three-game set at Wake Forest and falling by a run to UCF at home on Wednesday. The Hurricanes are slated to close out their series at Wake Forest Monday night at 7 p.m. in a game that will be broadcast on ESPN U.
Friday’s game featured a hit parade led by sophomores Raymond Gil, Michael Amditis and Alex Toral. Gil went 5-for-5 while Amditis was 4-for-4 and Toral had three hits, giving all three Canes career-bests in hits as the Hurricanes won the series opener, 7-3.
Saturday’s offensive explosion featured five homers, including three in the eighth inning that turned a 4-3 Miami deficit into an 8-4 Hurricane victory. Alex Toral crushed a 411-foot bomb that tied the game in the top of the second, while Anthony Vilar secured the first multi-homer game of his career while his second round-tripper tied the game at 4 in the top of the eighth. Adrian Del Castillo followed with a solo shot to put Miami up, 5-4, and Chad Crosbie’s three-run homer was the first of his career and gave Miami a four-run lead that they would not relinquish.
Miami clubbed four homers on Wednesday against UCF, including a pinch-hit, two-run bomb by Isaac Quiñones in the bottom of the ninth, but fell just short of completing the comeback against the Knights, 8-7. The Hurricanes finished 10-3 in midweek games in 2019, making a vast improvement from a 3-8 record in midweek meetings a year ago.
The Canes enter the week ranked 12th in RPI and 26th in strength of schedule according to WarrenNolan.com
Miami will close out its final ACC road trip of the season tonight, playing Wake Forest at 7 p.m. in a game that will be televised on ESPN U. The Hurricanes will wrap up the 2019 regular season this weekend, hosting Duke Thursday-Saturday.
