Canes Ranked No. 23 in Collegiate Baseball Preseason Poll
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The Miami Hurricanes are No. 23 in Collegiate Baseball’s Fabulous 50 NCAA Division 1 Pre-Season Poll, the publication announced Monday. The Hurricanes garnered a top-25 preseason ranking for the eighth time in the last nine years. The complete Collegiate Baseball Fabulous 50 NCAA Division I Pre-Season Poll can be viewed HERE.
Miami is one of nine teams from the ACC in the annual Collegiate Baseball preseason poll. The Hurricanes are joined by No. 10 Notre Dame, No. 11 Georgia Tech, No. 12 Florida State, No. 24 Virginia, No. 25 North Carolina, No. 26 Louisville, No. 27 NC State and No. 28 Duke.
A year ago, during head coach Gino DiMare‘s third season, the Canes finished with a 33-21 record, including a 20-15 mark in ACC play. Miami won seven conference series and tallied its most conference victories since 2016. The Hurricanes earned the 47th NCAA tournament berth in program history in 2021, competing in the Gainesville Regional.
Five Canes were named All-ACC honors, including Carson Palmquist and Yohandy Morales, who return for the upcoming campaign.
Palmquist posted a 2.22 ERA and an ACC-leading 14 saves, which ranked third nationally. The lefty received All-American recognition and Freshman All-American accolades from multiple outlets, among other awards. The Fort Myers, Fla., native totaled 75 strikeouts across 44 2/3 innings and was chosen to play for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team this past summer.
Morales, who joined Palmquist on Collegiate Baseball’s Freshman All-America Team as well as the All-ACC Freshman Team, paced the Hurricanes with 13 doubles, 11 home runs, 45 RBI and 13 multi-RBI games. The infielder was selected to the All-Gainesville Regional team after leading Miami with a .444 average, a home run and two RBI over three NCAA tournament games. Morales, who started all 53 games in which he appeared, batted .284 during his rookie year.
The Hurricanes also brought in the top recruiting class in the ACC, according to Baseball America. Miami’s talented class is comprised of 18 newcomers, 11 freshmen and seven transfers.
Nine Canes were listed among Perfect Game’s Top 500 incoming freshmen, including four in the top 200.
Right-handed pitcher Karson Ligon checked in at No. 41 overall while outfielder Lorenzo Carrier was tabbed No. 76. Right-hander Gage Ziehl, who was picked in the 11th round of the 2021 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Chicago Cubs, was rated 130th and outfielder/infielder Renzo Gonzalez was slotted No. 169.
Miami is scheduled to begin its 2022 slate against Towson on Feb. 18.
