Baseball to Face No. 23 Blue Devils in Durham
Miami (8-8, 2-1 ACC) at No. 23 Duke (14-3, 2-1 ACC)
Roster | Coaches | Schedule | Game Notes
March 16-18, 2018 | 6 p.m. | 1 p.m. | 12:30 p.m.
Durham Bulls Athletic Park | Durham, N.C.
Durham, N.C. — The Miami Hurricanes will be looking for their fourth series win of the spring when they open up a weekend with No. 23 Duke at Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Friday, March 16.
Winners of five of its last seven games, Miami captured its opening Atlantic Coast Conference series by taking two of three games against Notre Dame at Mark Light Field from March 9-10.
The Hurricanes have won each of their past four series against the Blue Devils and have not lost a weekend set to their ACC Coastal Division counterparts since 2013.
Miami is an impressive 15-2 all-time in Durham against the Blue Devils, who won their opening series with Virginia at Durham Bulls Athletic Park last weekend.
For the first time this season, Miami has shuffled its projected rotation ahead of the weekend. Senior lefthander Jeb Bargfeldt (2-1, 2.42 ERA) will assume his normal Friday night responsibilities, while sophomore Evan McKendry (3-1, 2.11 ERA) – who started the first game of a doubleheader last Saturday against Notre Dame – will pitch Saturday’s Game 2 in Durham.
Junior righthander Andrew Cabezas (0-2, 5.54 ERA) will make the fourth start of his career but first this season in Sunday’s finale. Cabezas has not started a game since his freshman year, when he helped lead Miami to Omaha with a start in a NCAA Coral Gables Super Regional game against Boston College.
While Miami will be led on the hill by a number of veterans, the Hurricanes were paced by its young core of freshman hitters in Wednesday’s 4-3 win over No. 21 UCF.
Freshman shortstop Freddy Zamora recorded his first three-hit game as a Hurricane, while freshmen Isaac Quinones and Willy Escala both extended their career-long hitting streaks to seven games.
Escala’s game-tying, two-RBI single in the fourth jumpstarted an early Miami rally. An RBI groundout in the sixth from Quinones scored Zamora, who tripled earlier in the inning, and proved the difference in a one-run game.
Pitching for Duke on Friday will be LHP Adam Laskey (3-1, 3.18 ERA). LHP Mitch Stallings (1-1, 3.66 ERA) will start Saturday and RHP Ryan Day (1-1, 3.24) will take the hill in the series finale.
