Miami Hurricanes Baseball Upsets Wake Forest to Advance to ACC Semis

The Miami Hurricanes rallied from a 2-0 deficit with one run in the seventh and two each in the eighth and ninth to get a vital win to advance to the ACC Tournament Semifinals.

The win improves Miami to 31-26 on the season. They advance to Saturday’s ACC 5 PM semifinal against the winner of tonight’s game between North Carolina and North Carolina State.

The Hurricanes lost two of three on the road to both teams earlier this season. The Tar Heels won the Coastal with a 19-7 overall record. That was second overall in the ACC a half game behind Louisville. NC State was fourth in the Atlantic with a 16-14 record, seventh overall. They finished a half-game behind the Hurricanes in the ACC.

The Miami Hurricanes offense was mostly held in check for seven innings by Wake Forest starter Parker Dunshee. Dunshee allowed one run on three walks and four hits in seven innings. An Edgar Michelangeli home run was the only damage the Hurricanes could inflict in the first seven innings.

That home run seemed to spark the Miami offense. Griffin Roberts came on in the eighth and Miami scored four runs off of him in 1.2 innings during the eighth and ninth. Roberts allowed four runs on three hits and four walks with two strikeouts during his outing.

It was a bit surprising that Roberts came out for the ninth after allowing the tying and what turned out to be the winning run in the eighth. Colin Peluse came on in the ninth to get the last out of the inning.

Wake had raced to the 2-0 lead on a pair of solo home runs by Stuart Fairchild. Fairchild had three of the Demon Deacons eight hits on the afternoon. He was the only Wake player with multiple hits.

The Hurricanes comeback seized the lead in the top of the eighth. Romy Gonzalez plated Johnny Ruiz with a double to tie the game. Gonzalez took third on the throw to home. That wound up being key as Gonzo scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch.

The ‘Canes tacked on two more runs in the ninth. Ruiz drove in Michael Burns and Carl Chester with a two-out double to extend the lead. Chester started the rally with a two-out walk and Burns singled to set up Ruiz’s heroics.

Andrew Cabezas came on to pitch the ninth to get the save. The Demon Deacons loaded the bases with two outs. The game ended in an odd fashion when Wake’s Nick DiPonzio hit a hard ground ball to the right side that hit his teammate Keegan Maronpot for the final out of the game.

After his dominant performance on Tuesday against Georgia Tech, Cabezas was shaky this afternoon. He allowed two hits and two walks in his one inning pitched. DiPonzio was given a single on the last out of the game. He did enough to get the Hurricanes the win. This time of year, that’s all that matter.

Next Up: Miami awaits the winner of North Carolina and North Carolina State in Saturday’s 5 PM. Semifinal. The Hurricanes have not announced who the starting pitcher will be. The likelihood is Jesse Lepore.

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Greg Veliz would have been next up. He threw 64 pitches in 2.1 innings in relief of starter Jeb Bargfeldt. Veliz did not allow a hit but walked seven batters.  Lepore has been off since last Saturday.