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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."