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U Had Me At Love

After three sets and seven match points in a matchup between the two highest-ranked players in the country, the NCAA Singles Championship trophy is headed to Coral Gables, Fla.

Top-seeded Estela Perez-Somarriba of the University of Miami women's tennis team dropped the opening set before dominating the rest of the match to defeat second-seeded Katarina Jokic of Georgia, 6-7 (1-7), 6-2, 6-3, Saturday night at the USTA National Campus.

"It's amazing. Dreams come true," Perez-Somarriba said. "I am just really happy that I got to be here and that I was able to experience all of this. I am just really grateful to the University of Miami; the coaches, teammates and the staff, for making this possible and for helping me every single day."

"I don't think I have ever seen a better college tennis match in a bigger moment in my career," Yaroshuk-Tews said. "It was just incredible."

"We made it," Perez-Somarriba said of her thought when the match ended. "Honestly, I have dreamt about this many, many times and I really couldn't believe that I actually did it. I am really happy that I got to experience this next to my coaches; they are the best."

"It's really unbelievable. You hear it all the time in sports that athletes deserve it and it doesn't really even do this justice," Yaroshuk-Tews said. "You have no idea the days that we have had post-NCAA tournament freshman year, post NCAA tournament sophomore year. We made some adjustments to her training, we made it tougher on her all year. There were moments that she didn't like us, there were moments she didn't understand us and she just got tougher, more resilient and able to deal with adversity and trusted us every step of the way. She trusted herself and her preparation every step of the way. This girl wakes up every single day and lives life the right way. She is walking away with a national title and I mean, words cannot even describe how happy I am for her."

Miami is the seventh school to win multiple NCAA Singles Championship crowns and is tied for the fourth-most. In addition, the Hurricanes are one of just six programs with at least three individual titles, including the NCAA Doubles Championship.

From Dream Maker To Heart Breaker

It took 11 innings, but the North Carolina Tar Heels upset the Miami Hurricanes to win Pool D at the 2019 ACC Baseball Championship with a 7-5 win on Friday.
 
Miami (39-18) was the No. 4 seed in the tournament and the top seed in its pool, but the No. 5 Tar Heels (40-17) came back from a five-run deficit to force extra innings before taking the lead for good in the top of the 11th inning inside Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
 

"Very disappointing game for us," head coach Gino DiMare said. "We obviously jumped on them early, had a five-run lead after three innings, and we've had some games like this this year, where we've let teams come back. We just didn't do a good job offensively. We had guys on base, and we had a couple situations, man on second, nobody out, didn't move the runner over. We didn't get the big hit. We left, I think, eight guys on base today. We had some guys there with two outs and couldn't get them in, get the big hit. Just let them kind of creep back in the game." 

"This team can be dangerous," DiMare said. "I think it deserves to host. It deserves the NCAA's respect certainly. It's a young team. It's a fun team to watch, you know that. Our place is a great place to have a regional because I've been part of a lot of them. Had a lot of great games over the years. Wherever they put us, we'll accept it. That's the way it goes, and we'll be ready to play."
 
The Hurricanes await their postseason destination, as the NCAA Division I Baseball selection show will air on ESPNU on Monday, May 27 at noon.

Highly Ranked Hurricanes Advance To Regionals

The Miami Hurricanes will be the No. 4 seed in the 2019 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Championship, as announced by the conference office on Sunday.

The Canes (38-17, 18-12 ACC) are the top team in Pool D, joined by No. 5 North Carolina (38-17, 17-13) and No. 9 Virginia (32-22, 14-16). Miami is set to open play in the 2019 ACC baseball tournament at 3 p.m. on Thursday against Virginia. The Hurricanes will face North Carolina on Friday at 3 p.m. to conclude pool play.

The Hurricanes (38-17, 18-12 ACC) held steady in the Baseball America Top 25 at No. 14 and moved up one spot to No. 16 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. The Canes moved up one position in the D1Baseball Top 25 to No. 17. Miami moved down three spots in Collegiate Baseball's NCAA Div. I Baseball Poll to No. 15. 

Four Miami Hurricanes were among those recognized by the Atlantic Coast Conference Monday for their outstanding performances during the 2019 season.

Redshirt sophomore Michael Amditis, freshman Adrian Del Castillo and redshirt junior Brian Van Belle were selected to the All-ACC Second Team, while sophomore Raymond Gil was named to the All-ACC Third Team. Del Castillo was also one of 12 players picked for the 2019 ACC All-Freshman Team.

Amditis was named the catcher on the All-ACC Second Team after an excellent season in Coral Gables. After missing most of the last two seasons due to injury, the Boca Raton, Fla., native emerged as a steady force offensively and behind the plate. Amditis hit .308 with six doubles, seven home runs and 24 RBI over 45 games. Defensively, he threw out 29 percent of base stealers and was an outstanding blocker and receiver in his 42 starts at catcher.

Del Castillo was one of the most dangerous hitters in the ACC, as his 62 RBI and 19 doubles both ranked fourth in the conference to end the regular season. The Miami native started all 55 games and finished the season with a .324 batting average and 27 extra-base hits. His 19 multi-hit games are tied for the team lead with fellow freshman Anthony Vilar, while his 15 multi-RBI performances rank second on the Hurricanes to Alex Toral's 17. Del Castillo's numbers are even more impressive among his fellow freshmen; he ranks second among freshmen nationally in doubles (19) and runs batted in (61), seventh with 49 runs scored and 10^th in hits (67) and total bases (110). He is also the third-toughest freshman to strike out in all of Division I. A versatile player, the Miami native played four different positions for the Canes in 2019: 25 games in right field, 16 games at designated hitter, 12 games at catcher and two games at third base.

Van Belle emerged as Miami's most consistent starting pitcher in his first season donning the orange and green. A transfer from Broward College, Van Belle opened the season as the Sunday starter and climbed up to the front of the rotation and continued his excellence on the mound. The Pembroke Pines, Fla., native led the Canes with eight wins and had a 3.29 ERA and 71 strikeouts over a team-high 82 innings pitched. His eight wins are tied for third-most in the ACC, while his 82 innings pitch rank fourth in the conference.

Gil had an excellent sophomore season for the Hurricanes, finishing with a team-best .326 batting average while providing thump in the middle of Miami's lineup. The powerful third baseman ranked second on the team with 14 doubles and 11 homers and had a .980 OPS. Gil was third on the team with 16 multi-hit games and posted a five-hit performance at Wake Forest on May 10. The Miami native also had a pair of multi-homer games, belting a pair of home runs against UMBC on March 3 and at FAU on March 27.

That's A Whole Lot Of Bulls

The University of Miami football program announced Tuesday that it has agreed to a three-game football series with the University of South Florida.
 
The Hurricanes will host the Bulls at Hard Rock Stadium on Sept. 13, 2025 and again on Sept. 9, 2028. Miami will travel to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa to face USF on Sept. 4, 2027.
 

The Hurricanes lead the all-time series with the Bulls 5-1. The two teams last met in 2013, a 49-21 UM win in Tampa.
 
The Hurricanes also have future out of conference games scheduled with Alabama in Atlanta, Ga. (2021), Michigan State (2020 and 2021), and Texas A&M (2022 and 2023).

Power Surge!

The Miami Hurricanes flexed their muscles on Saturday evening, crushing five homers to beat Wake Forest 8-4.
 
The No. 19 Canes (36-15, 16-10 ACC) faced a 4-3 deficit entered the top of the eighth and belted three of their five homers to take a five-run lead against the homestanding Demon Deacons. Saturday marks the second five-homer game by the Hurricanes this season, matching the five hit in a 20-1 win over UMBC on March 3.
 
"The team doesn't fold," head coach Gino DiMare said. "You just never feel like they're looking to hit that panic button. We're down in the eighth inning there and before you know it, boom, boom, boom and we're up with a four-run lead."
 

Wake Forest closer William Fleming took the mound in the top of the eighth looking to protect a 4-3 lead, but Anthony Vilar and Adrian Del Castillo hit back-to-back 351-foot opposite-field solo homers to put the Hurricanes ahead, 5-4. 
 
Miami added three more runs against Fleming in the eighth when Chad Crosbiecrushed a 401-foot blast for his first career homer. The junior, who was in Saturday's starting lineup because Gabe Rivera crashed into the outfield wall on Friday, made the most of his final at-bat of the day.
 
"This team is reminding me more and more of the 1999 team," DiMare said. "We've had more guys go down than I can recall in many, many years and guys are just stepping up left and right. [Willy] Escala has played great defense at second and Vilar has played great at short. Crosbie has done a good job. All in all, it's been a great team effort and everybody has been getting opportunities and making the most of them."

"They took the early lead and we tied it up and we took the lead and then tied it up and went ahead," DiMare said. "Just a great overall team win. Slade threw solid and you'd like to see the middle guys throw a little bit better, but we got the lead and put the guys in the back end in and they did a good job."
 
But a resilient Miami team continued to fight and put up five runs against Wake Forest's top reliever in the eighth before Gregory Veliz came in to record the final three outs and put the Hurricanes in position to go for a sweep on Monday.
 
Miami sophomore RHP Chris McMahon (2-2, 4.10 ERA) will make his first start since April 13, taking the mound Monday against freshman RHP Ryan Cusick (6-3, 6.43 ERA) on Monday at 7 p.m in a game that will be broadcasted on ESPN U.

Feeling Hoopy?

University of Miami men's basketball head coach Jim Larrañaga announced Tuesday that Nysier Brooks will transfer into the program for the 2019-20 season. A 6-foot-11, 240-pound center from Philadelphia, Brooks started all 35 games at the University of Cincinnati this past season during his third season with the Bearcats. Per NCAA transfer regulations, he has to sit out the 2019-20 season and will have one season of eligibility remaining.

"We are excited to welcome Nysier to the Hurricane family," Larrañaga said. "He is a skilled, physical low post player with the ability to defend at the highest level. Nysier will bring grit, Philly toughness and a wealth of experience. He was one of the top defensive players in the AAC and has played 103 games in his career, including three straight NCAA tournaments. We are thrilled to have Nysier, his guardian James Johns and the rest of his family as part of our program.
 

Brooks played in 103 games during his Cincinnati career and averaged 8.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game during his junior season. He led the team with 51 blocked shots. The Bearcats named Brooks the team's Defensive Player of the Year after he finished third in the American Athletic Conference in blocks with 1.5 per game this season.
 
Brooks scored in double figures in 12 games this season, including an 11-point effort in the Bearcats' NCAA Tournament matchup against Iowa, which was his fourth career NCAA Tournament game. He matched a career high with 17 points on Jan. 12 against UConn. Brooks also recorded five games with three or more blocked shots.
 
Brooks joins graduate transfer Keith Stone (University of Florida) and incoming freshmen Harlond Beverly, Anthony Walker and Isaiah Wong as newcomers to the Hurricanes' program for the 2019-20 season. Miami's incoming recruiting class currently is ranked No. 24 nationally in the 247Sports team recruiting rankings.

Miami Baseball Winning Streak Continues

A fantastic pair of freshmen delivered when the team needed them most, as Jordan Lala and Anthony Vilar drove in five runs to help the Miami Hurricanes beat Bethune-Cookman by a score of 9-3.
 
After scoring just seven runs over three games last weekend, the Hurricanes (32-14) scored seven runs over the final five innings to put the game out of reach from the Wildcats (16-33) and win their fifth consecutive game.
 
"Those guys always play good against us," head coach Gino DiMare said. "When you're beating a pitcher like that that can beat anybody on any given day, I'm proud of our guys that battled and fought through it."
 
While the final score didn't show it, Friday's game started as a pitcher's duel. The start of the series opener was delayed by 47 minutes due to inclement weather, but the late start did not affect either starting pitcher early on. Bethune Cookman's Anthony Maldonado retired eight of the first nine Canes he faced, and Gabe Rivera only reached base after a wild pitch on a third strike.
 

"That guy who has thrown against us the last few years has been tough on us," DiMare said. "Our guys just kept battling and grinding out at-bats. He was laboring as that game went on and I guarantee you he hasn't done that too much in his outings."
 
Lala, who was hitless in his last 14 at-bats, snapped out of his slump with one big swing in the bottom of the third. The freshman destroyed a full-count offering from Maldonado that hit off the parking garage in right field for a two-run homer. 
 
"I was just looking for a pitch I could drive," Lala said. "I've been struggling lately and I just telling myself to keep swinging the bat and eventually it would go my way and it did there."
 

Miami starter Brian Van Belle, who tossed 8.1 scoreless innings last Saturday in a win over Virginia Tech, retired the first 12 Wildcats he faced before hitting Over Torres with a pitch to open the top of the fifth. Three pitches later, Chase DeBonis doubled to left and drove in Torres. Bethune-Cookman continued to rally against the Canes' starter, posting three runs on three hits in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead.
 
The Canes picked up their starting pitcher in the bottom half of the fifth, as Anthony Vilar ripped a two-out, two-run single with the bases loaded that put the Hurricanes back on top, 4-3. The freshman infielder entered Friday's game with two hits in his last 22 at-bats, but he was a huge contributor in Friday's victory.
 
"It was just a big inning," Vilar said. "We started the inning with nobody on base and two outs. Guys got on base and it was a big opportunity to score some runs and get the lead again. I saw a pitch I could hit and I hit a line drive up the middle."
 
Willy Escala played a big role in the seventh, making two stellar defensive plays in the top of the inning and leading off the bottom of the frame with a double to left-center. The Miami second baseman scored when Vilar smacked an RBI single to right that gave the Canes a two-run lead. An error by BCU first baseman Joseph Strong on a Raymond Gil grounder with two outs allowed Vilar to score and put the Hurricanes ahead, 6-3.
 
"It's a big thing once a team scores, it brings them down once you come back that next inning and score runs yourself," Vilar said. "That's a big thing that we have tried to accomplish all year and that's what we are going to try to do all season."

Hurricanes Keep Winning, Climbing In Rankings

 The University of Miami baseball program climbed in the rankings in three polls and entered the top 25 in another, securing a third consecutive week ranked in polls released Monday.
 
The Hurricanes (31-14, 14-10 ACC) debuted at No. 23 in the Baseball America Top 25, marking the fifth different major publication to rank Miami in 2019. The Canes climbed three spots to No. 21 in both the USA Today Coaches Poll and the D1Baseball Top 25. Miami also moved up two spots to No. 24 in Collegiate Baseball's NCAA Div. I Baseball Poll.
 
Miami went 4-0 in the week, sweeping Virginia Tech in a three-game ACC series and outslugging crosstown foe FIU, 18-10, on Wednesday to kick off the four-game week.
 

The Canes had a different hero in each of their three games against the conference rival Hokies. Miami sophomore outfielder Gabe Rivera's two-run single in the bottom of the eighth helped the Canes turn the series opener upside-down and earn a 4-3 win on Friday night.
 
Saturday's star came on the mound, as redshirt junior Brian Van Belle threw a career-best 8.1 scoreless innings to help Miami shutout Virginia Tech, 1-0.
 
Freshman Adrian Del Castillo was the player of the game Sunday, belting a two-run homer and making two excellent defensive plays in Miami's 2-0 win that secured a sweep over VT. The back-to-back shutouts against Virginia Tech marked the second time in 2019 that Miami has blanked an opponent on consecutive days. The Hurricanes threw shutouts in each of the first two games against Florida State this season, holding the Seminoles scoreless on April 5-6.
 
Wednesday's slugfest against FIU featured bases-loaded triples by freshmen Anthony Vilar and JP Gates and a big game from redshirt sophomore Michael Amditis, going 3-for-4 with a home run. The victory gave Miami a season sweep over the Panthers.
 
The Canes enter the week ranked 11th in RPI and 10th in strength of schedule according to Warren Nolan.com
 
Miami will host Bethune-Cookman from this Friday through Sunday before closing their current eight-game homestand against UCF on May 8.

Hurricanes Blow Through Orlando

Several of us Canespacers attended the Spring Game at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Saturday as the Miami Hurricanes blew through "O-town" to display their new talent, coaches, schemes and skills.

We were not disappointed by their performance on a magnificient, sun-splashed day in Central Florida. In a place usually populated by fans of the Gators, Knights and even Seminoles, Hurricanes fans took over the 407 for a day.

Most in the large turnout of over 10,000 UM fans saw the much talked about new offensive scheme for the first time and liked what we saw. The scheme, play calling, motion and prodcutivity was a refereshing and much welcomed change from the last couple of years version of "offense" which basically consisted of run, run, pass, punt.

The hotly contested starting QB battle saw all three contenders take their shots at the helm of the offense and also down the field. After a horrid start on the first series of the game, the unit settled down and moved the ball successfuly on several drives. While it could easily be said that the defense dominated the day overall, there were several long TD passes (read: exciting!) thrown by the three quarterbacks during the scimmage that balanced things out nicely.

Martell hit wide receiver K.J. Osborn for an 80-yard touchdown, Williams lofted a gorgeous pass to tight end Will Mallory for an impressive 15-yard score, and Perry found freshman sensation Jeremiah Payton for a late first-half TD.

The Canespacers in attendance generally agreed that N'Kosi (Joe Not Katy) Perry (blogger Go Canes candidate) performed best of the three. He was followed by transfer and newcomer Tate (Tater Tots) Martell (many fans top choice), and Jarren (Ted Not Ricky) Williams (my candidate) was a clear third. There is still a lot of practice time and long way to go before the starter is announced in the Fall. Only time will tell how this battle shakes out in the end.

The offensive line continued to struggle against the deepest and most talented part of the team: the vaunted and very agressive UM defensive line. But those struggles were not as often or aggregious as last year and they opened enough holes for the running backs to gain some yardage while protecting the passer better than we can recall in recent years.

It appears that while admittedly the OL is still "a work in progress", at least some progress is being made even as players have been shuffled around at various positions and depth is still not where it needs to be.

Special teams were not really on display as kickoffs and punts were not returned or defended. We are still anxiously awaiting "The Australian Dream" at punter as Captain Jack Spicer continues to be consistently inconsistent. Kickoffs were much better with several going out of the end zone (when intended) and the only negative was the one short FG that was missed by Bubba Gump Baxta.

Coaching wise new Offensive Coordinator Dan Enos was very invested and involved in coaching up his side of the ball and specifically his QBs. He was not afraid to get in their face when he felt it was warranted.

We like that, yeah, we like that a lot.

In summary, we all left the Spring Game encouraged by the overall performance of the team on both sides of the ball. Even though the glorified scrimmage meant nothing and did not end 34-13 as I had predicted, we left the stadium in Orlando feeling pretty high and mighty in our newly purchased monster truck.

It was quite a ride! 

Let's Have A Three For All!

A pair of home runs and an excellent start from Brian Van Belle helped the Miami Hurricanes complete a sweep of Virginia for the second straight year.
 
Sunday's 3-1 victory over the Cavaliers (21-16, 8-10 ACC) secured the Hurricanes' (25-12, 10-8 ACC) first sweep at Virginia in program history. After taking all three games in Coral Gables a year ago, Miami has run its current winning streak over UVA to six games.
 
"I'm happy with our pitching that's been going good," head coach Gino DiMare said. "Starting pitching and our bullpen has been excellent all weekend. It didn't show today, but we hit a lot of balls hard. I know we got outhit, 9-6, but we hit some balls really, really hard in crucial situations. Good pitching, good defense and very happy to get the sweep."
 

Miami stranded five runners over the first three innings, but the Hurricane bats finally broke through in the top of the fourth. JP Gates crushed a 1-0 pitch from reliever Zach Messinger deep to right for a solo homer that gave the Canes a one-run lead.

"We have the ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark, which we haven't done the past few years, and it certainly makes it a lot easier," DiMare said.
 
The Hurricanes added on in the top of the sixth, as Michael Amditis put a charge into a pitch from Kyle Whitten for a two-out, two-run homer that gave Miami a 3-0 lead.
 
"Home runs have been our M.O., " DiMare said. "We've hit a lot of home runs and that's how we scored our three runs. We had a solo shot and a two-run shot and hit a lot of other balls hard, but they were hit right at people."
 

The Cavaliers finally scored in the seventh, as Nic Kent tripled with two outs off reliever Mark Mixon to send home Cayman Richardson and make it 3-1. 
 
The run was charged to Miami starter Brian Van Belle, who was outstanding over a career-best 6.2 innings. The redshirt junior earned his fifth win of the year, allowing just one run on seven hits while striking out six Virginia batters.
 
"Fearless and competitive is how I'd describe him," DiMare said of Van Belle. "The more I watch him the more I get amazed at how composed he is and how competitive he is. One of the things I've always gotten on him about is being up in the zone and he's a fly ball guy, but he was down in the zone today. He did an excellent job. His pitch count was very efficient. It just got to the right situation where Mark has been good coming in. If our starting pitching throw well, I'm very confident we could play with anybody because I know we can swing the bats. Our lineup is very balanced."

Miami is home at 6 p.m. on Tuesday against Florida Gulf Coast before hitting the road for a three-game set at Louisville beginning Thursday.