Canes Baseball Hits the Road to No. 8 UNC
Miami (14-3, 2-1 ACC) vs. #8 North Carolina (14-4, 0-3 ACC)
Roster | Coaches | Schedule | Game Notes
March 15-17, 2019 | 6 p.m. | 2 p.m. | 10:30 a.m.
Boshamer Stadium | Chapel Hill, N.C.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami baseball program hits the road for an ACC series against No. 8 North Carolina.
The Hurricanes (14-3, 2-1 ACC) will face the eighth-ranked Tar Heels (14-4, 0-3 ACC) in a three-game set at Boshamer Stadium. Friday’s game is set for 6 p.m., while Saturday’s first pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. and Sunday’s finale will begin at 10:30 a.m.
All three games at North Carolina will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra. All baseball games, home and away, can be heard on WVUM 90.5 FM and WVUM.org.
Junior right-hander Evan McKendry (3-0, 2.88 ERA) will go for his fourth win, opposing UNC RHP Gianluca Dalatri in a Friday battle of ACC aces. In his last start, McKendry held Georgia Tech to four runs on nine hits over six innings while striking out five Yellow Jackets.
Sophomore right-hander Chris McMahon (1-0, 2.35 ERA) will face off against junior RHP Tyler Baum (3-1, 3.92 ERA) on Saturday. Sunday’s finale will feature Miami’s Brian Van Belle (3-1, 1.52 ERA) opposite North Carolina junior RHP Austin Bergner (1-0, 3.18 ERA).
The Hurricanes lead the all-time series, 39-31-1, and have won three of the last six meetings in Chapel Hill. Carolina, who holds a 16-11-1 advantage at Boshamer Stadium, bounced back from being swept at Clemson over the weekend with a pair of midweek wins over Gardner-Webb (18-8) and UNC Wilmington (11-4).
Miami enters the series fresh off a midweek sweep of Jackson State. The Canes took two of three in their ACC-opening series against Georgia Tech and went 8-1 in their nine-game homestand.
At 14-3, the Hurricanes matched their best start since opening the 2016 season 14-3 over their first 17 games. With a 12-3 start, head coach Gino DiMare has the most wins over 15 games by a first-year head coach in UM history. Perry Moss (’55) and Jim Morris (’94) both won 11 of their first 15 games in their debut seasons at Miami. Whitey Campbell (’58) and Ron Fraser (’63) went 10-5 over the first 15 games of their first season at the helm of the program.
The Hurricanes have one of the most potent offenses in the ACC, entering the weekend with an ACC-best .307 team batting average, while Miami’s 181 hits are the most in the ACC. Miami is second in the ACC in slugging (.503) and third in doubles (37), runs (133) on-base percentage (.408).
Freddy Zamora was named ACC Player of the Week after he was nearly unstoppable against Georgia Tech, going 7-for-13 (.538) with two doubles, two homers, four runs, four RBI and a stolen base. The sophomore shortstop had three hits in each of the first two games, including a walk-off two-run homer on Saturday night and a game-tying two-run shot over the scoreboard in left on Sunday.
Sophomore first baseman Alex Toral is second in the ACC with a team-best nine home runs. Fellow sophomore Raymond Gil is second on the team and tied for fourth in the conference with five homers. UM, which ranks third in the ACC with 24 homers, matched its 2018 season total of 23 home runs after just 15 games in 2019.
A pair of freshmen hitters have been especially effective lately, as cleanup hitter Adrian Del Castillo opened his career with a 15-game hitting streak that tied Esteban Tresgallo’s streak of 15 games in 2013 for the longest to begin a Hurricane career. Del Castillo has a hit in 16 of Miami’s 17 games this season.
Jordan Lala is another freshman making an impact, especially since moving into the leadoff spot against FIU on Feb. 27. In nine games as a leadoff hitter, Lala is 12-for-30 with a double, a homer, 15 runs scored, nine walks, seven stolen bases and four RBI.
Miami added a recruiting class ranked eighth by D1Baseball and No. 10 nationwide by Baseball America to a group of 18 returning letterwinners from a 2018 team that finished 28-26 overall and 16-13 in ACC play.
Three members of Miami’s recruiting class were selected in the 2018 MLB First-Year Player Draft; Del Castillo (36thround, White Sox), Anthony Vilar (37thround, Cubs) and Slade Cecconi (38thround, Orioles) all spurned professional overtures for a career at Miami after being selected in the 2018 MLB Draft.
Cecconi (#2), Del Castillo (#8) and Vilar (#48) were among the Top 50 Impact Freshmen in the ACC according to D1Baseball. Freshman LHP/UT JP Gates was ranked 10th among ACC freshmen. Baseball America rated Cecconi (No. 12), Gates (No. 16) and Del Castillo (No. 31) among the top 50 freshmen nationally.
The Hurricanes’ home schedule includes series with NC State (March 22-24), Florida State (April 5-7), Virginia Tech (April 26-28) and Duke (May 16-18), among others.
Miami’s road schedule also includes trips to Pittsburgh (March 29-31), Virginia (April 12-14), Louisville (April 18-20) and Wake Forest (May 10-12).
