Miami Hurricanes baseball skyrockets in polls after sweep of former No. 3 Virginia
Just past halfway through the season, the Miami Hurricanes have risen to elite status in college baseball.
But they’re not on top yet.
The Canes catapulted six spots Monday to No. 2 in the nation in the D1Baseball poll and seven spots to No. 2 in the Baseball America poll after their three-game weekend sweep of former No. 3/2 Virginia.
Several other polls were released Monday, with UM vaulting to No. 2 in the Perfect Game and Collegiate Baseball polls, and to No. 3 in the USA Today Coaches ranking. There’s no doubt the Hurricanes at this point have mounted their best season since at least 2016, the last time they went to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
Tennessee, having an incredible season at 31-1 with 23 consecutive wins, remains at No. 1.
But the Hurricanes were the talk of the nation this weekend among college baseball types. Now 26-6 overall and 13-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Canes beat Virginia, which dropped to No. 8 (D1Baseball) and No. 6 (Baseball America), 6-2 Friday, 5-4 Saturday and 15-5 Sunday.
The four-time national champion Hurricanes have won 13 consecutive games, their longest streak since 2015.
They swept a top-three team this past weekend for the first time since 2012 and third time since 2001 (the year UM won its last national title).
“We just spoke about it in the locker room,’’ UM coach Gino DiMare said after Sunday’s victory. “I told them I don’t know what we’re going to be ranked, and I don’t try to talk too much about rankings. But it came up.
“I said, ‘Sure, we’re going to move up. I don’t know where, but make sure we stay humble, make sure we stay grounded, make sure you understand that the poll right now has no bearing. The only poll I care about is the last poll.’
“That’s our goal. We know where we want to be. We happened to put ourselves in a good place right now. It’s a long season to go... My goodness, we’ve got a lot of good teams still left on our schedule.”
Added DiMare: “We’re just past the halfway point. I’m happy with where the team is right now, but by no means should we be patting ourselves on the back and saying, ‘Oh, we’ve got this thing figured out.’ We’ve got a long way to go, a long way.”
The Canes host FAU (21-12) of Boca Raton on Tuesday, before traveling to Blacksburg, Virginia, for a weekend series against Virginia Tech (20-8, 7-6), which is third place in the ACC Coastal Division behind UM and UVA.
This story was originally published April 11, 2022 at 9:54 AM.
