Miami baseball to retire Morris jersey before hosting Georgia Tech

The Miami baseball program will retire former head coach Jim Morris’ number three on Friday night before his former teams, the Hurricanes and Georgia Tech begin a three-game series at Mark Light Field.

The Miami baseball team will host Georgia Tech for a three-game series to commence ACC play this weekend. Before the game, former Miami and Georgia Tech Head Coach Jim Morris will have his Hurricanes number three uniform retired.

The Hurricanes enter Friday night’s game with a 10-2 record. The start of the Gino DiMare era is better than his mentors Morris and Ron Fraser. Georgia Tech travels to Coral Gables with an 8-4 record. The Yellow Jackets swept last season’s three-game series in Atlanta, Georgia Tech outscored the Hurricanes 23-5 in 2018.

The Miami baseball team has turned their inconsistent offense of the last two seasons around. Entering conference play Miami leads the ACC with a .329 batting average, is third with 17 home runs and is second in slugging percentage. The offense has fueled the Hurricanes offensive turnaround from the past two seasons.

Miami first basemen Alex Toral is second in the ACC in home runs and with seven and third in slugging and Raymond Gil is sixth with a .447 batting average.

Georgia Tech’s 8-4 start can be blamed on the pitching and hitting. The Yellow Jackets are ninth in the ACC in batting average and ERA entering the opening weekend of conference play. Georgia Tech catcher Kyle McCann leads the ACC  with nine home runs and 21 RBIs. McCann is the current ACC Player of the Week.

"Dates: Friday, March 8, 2019 – Sunday, March 10, 2019Game Times (ET): 7:00 p.m. | 7:00 p.m. | 1:00 p.m.Site: Coral Gables, Fla. | Mark Light Field (4,999)MIAMI HURRICANES (10-2, 0-0 ACC)Head Coach: Gino DiMare (Miami, 1992)Career Division I Record: 10-2 (first season) | Record at Miami: 10-2 (first season)GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS (8-4, 0-0 ACC)Head Coach: Danny Hall (Ohio, 1977)Career Division I Record: 1,234-651-1 (32nd season) | Record at GT: 1,026-531-1 (26th season)Courtesy HurricaneSports.Com"

Friday night’s pitching matchup is stellar. Xzavion Curry is off to an outstanding start for Georgia Tech at 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA. Curry stifled the Miami baseball team in Atlanta last season. He pitched eight innings, allowing six hits, one earned run with one walk and 12 strikeouts.

Evan McKendry gets the Friday start for Miami. McKendry is third in the ACC with three wins and fourth with 25 strikeouts. The Hurricanes starting rotation has been exceptional this season. with a 1.79 ERA in 71.1 innings.

"Weekend Pitching Rotations:Georgia TechFriday: JR RHP Xzavion Curry (2-0, 1.80 ERA)Saturday: JR LHP Connor Thomas (1-1, 3.79 ERA)Sunday: SO LHP Brant Hunter (0-1, 0.69 ERA)MiamiFriday: JR RHP Evan McKendry (3-0, 1.89 ERA)Saturday: SO RHP Chris McMahon (1-0, 1.53 ERA)Sunday: R-JR RHP Brian Van Belle (2-1, 1.06 ERABroadcast Information:Flagship Radio: 790 The Ticket (Saturday)Spanish Radio: 990 AM ESPN Deportes (Sunday)Student Radio: WVUM 90.5 FM | WVUM.org (all games)Twitter Updates: @CanesBaseball / @MiamiHurricanes"

Friday night’s game against Georgia Tech is the fifth game in a nine-game homestand. The homestand will conclude when Miami hosts Jackson State in a two-game series Tuesday and Wednesday. The Hurricanes will play their first ACC road series of the season next weekend at North Carolina.