University of North Carolina Athletics
No. 2 Carolina Thumps Miami, Advances To Final
By Steve Phillips, ACC Communications
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (theACC.com) --- For those who have watched second-seeded North Carolina closely this week, Saturday night's 12-4 win over sixth-seeded Miami in Saturday night's Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Championship semifinal game followed a familiar script.
The Tar Heels have outscored their three ACC Championship opponents this week by a combined 34-8, and they hope enough offense remains in the tank for one more impressive tournament outing at Louisville Slugger Field.
UNC (47-11) will face Florida State (38-20) Sunday at noon (ESPN2) in search of its 11th overall ACC baseball title and it seventh since the conference began determining its champion by a tournament format in 1973. The Tar Heels most recently claimed the Championship in 2013.
Miami (31-27), which steadily upped its RPI in recent weeks with its improved play, will await the upcoming announcements regarding the 2017 NCAA Tournament field. The 16 regional host sites will be revealed on social media, including Facebook and Twitter, between 8:30 and 9 p.m. on Sunday. On Monday, the full field of 64 teams will be announced on ESPN2 at noon.
The Hurricanes started fast against UNC starter Gianluca Dalatri, parlaying hits by each of the game's first four batters – a single by Carl Chester, a triple by Michael Burns, a double by Jonny Ruiz and a single by Romy Gonzales – into a 3-0 lead.
The Tar Heels got one run back in bottom of the first. Leadoff hitter Brian Miller reached second base on a throwing error, moved up on a long fly ball and scored on Ashton McGee's grounder to first.
McGee made it 3-2 in more dramatic fashion when he led off the bottom of the fourth, sending a 2-0 pitch from the Hurricanes' Jesse Lepore 409 feet and well over the wall in right-center for his seventh home run of the year. Kyle Datres followed with an infield single and Brandon Riley walked to put UNC runners on first and second with no outs when the game was halted due to lightning in the area.
Following a weather delay of one hour and 39 minutes, UNC took advantage of a wild pitch and a hit batter by Miami reliever Michael Mediavilla to put two runners into scoring position, and Tyler Lynn's sacrifice fly and Cody Roberts' RBI groundout put the Tar Heels up 4-3.
UNC tacked on three more in the bottom of the sixth against Evan McKendry, the Hurricanes' third pitcher of the evening. Hot-hitting Logan Warmoth contributed an RBI single, and Datres capped the inning with a two-run double that made it 7-3.
The Tar Heels removed any remaining doubt with four more runs in the bottom of the seventh. Warmoth figured prominently again with a two-run triple, and McGee doubled in another run.
Warmoth finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs. McGee also drove in three runs while going 2-for-4. The Hurricanes' finished 3-for-5 as the teams combined for 21 hits.
UNC, which has won 18 of its last 21, swept three games from Florida State in the regular-season series at Tallahassee on March 31-April 2. But the Seminoles have also been among the nation's hottest teams as of late and will carry a six-game winning streak into Sunday's title game.