Miami baseball stays hot sweeping Duke series

The Miami baseball team won its eighth straight game with an 11-3 victory at Duke on Sunday to sweep the three-game series. Miami previously earned a weekday win over Florida Gulf Coast, a sweep of North Carolina last weekend and a victory over FAU. The Hurricanes improved to 10-2 in the ACC and 21-6 overall.

Miami began the week with an 11-7 victory at Florida Gulf Coast. The Hurricanes earned the win with a 10 run third inning. The third inning eruption was led by a three-run home run by Maxwell Romero Jr. that accounted for runs seven through nine. Jacob Burke and Dominic Pitelli each had three hits and two runs scored.

Jake Garland started for the Miami baseball team and improved to 4-1. On Friday night, Miami ace Carson Palmquist allowed a leadoff home run to Graham Pauley of Duke. That was the only run the Blue Devils scored all night. Palmquist pitched six innings, allowing three hits, the one run with one walk and 12 strikeouts.

The Miami bullpen shut out Duke in the final three innings. A Dominick Pitelli grand slam in the eighth inning was all Miami needed in a 4-1 victory. Burke, C.J. Kayfus and Pitelli each had three hits for the Hurricanes. Miami went for the series win on Saturday with Duke fans focused on the Final Four against North Carolina.

Homeruns by Yohandy Morales and Burke in the sixth inning on Saturday stretched a 1-0 lead to 3-0. The Miami baseball team added another run in the seventh before Duke scored one in the seventh and two in the eighth to cut the deficit to one run. Karson Ligon improved to 4-1 with the victory on Saturday.

Ligon pitched six innings allowing four hits, no runs, five walks, five walks with no runs, five walks and five strikeouts. Andrew Walter pitched 1.2 innings with three strikeouts for his eighth save. Alejandro Rosario gave Miami their four outstanding start this week pitching six innings allowing one run, five hits with two strikeouts.

On Sunday, Miami erupted for seven runs in the first two innings on their way to the XX-X victory. Pitelli had a grand slam in the first inning and Morales added a three-run double in the second to put Miami up by a touchdown. The Hurricanes added a run in the fifth and three in the eighth for the dominant victory.

Miami has a busy week upcoming. The Hurricanes host FGCU on Tuesday, FIU on Wednesday, Virginia next weekend and FAU on April 12 in a six-game homestand. Miami should rise from its spot as the 17th ranked team in the country and 10th in the RPI entering this weekend. Duke falls to 12-16 overall, 3-9 in the ACC.