Miami falls to Clemson in ACC championship, waits for NCAA selection reveal on Monday
Wake Forest might be No. 1, but No. 6 Clemson is the hottest team in college baseball.
A day after the 11th-ranked University of Miami defeated top-ranked Wake Forest to advance to the Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Championship final, Clemson proved too strong to conquer.
Miami roared back with five unanswered runs for a two-run lead in the fifth inning before Clemson scored eight runs in the seventh to take the eventual 11-5 victory Sunday for the ACC title at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
The Tigers (43-17) have won 16 games in a row and 21 of their last 22 games.
UM (40-19) went into the game having won 13 of its past 15.
Now, the Canes will wait for Monday, when the NCAA reveals at noon (ESPN2) the field of 64 for the NCAA Divison I Baseball Championship, which begins with the first-round, double-elimination regionals on Friday. The NCAA on Sunday night will announce the 16 programs that will serve as host sites for the four-team regionals, and Miami is sure to be a host site.
But because of Sunday’s loss, the Hurricanes are not expected to be named one of eight national seeds for the tournament, which would have ensured that they’d also host a second-round super regional should they win their regional. Going into the ACC final, UM was projected by D1Baseball.com on the bubble as the No. 9 seed, which means they might have jumped into the top-8 had they won Sunday.
After trailing 3-0, UM scored two in the third, one in the fourth and two in the fifth to go up 5-3. When Clemson chose to intentionally walk UM star Yohandy Morales, who entered Sunday with a .406 batting average, freshman Blake Cyr doubled to score Jacoby Long (single) and make it 4-3. The Canes scored again when Clemson walked home Renzo Gonzalez.
But Clemson’s eight-run rally that included a three-run homer by Riley Bertram — he put his fingers to his lips for the shhhh! sign as he rounded the bases — was all the Tigers would need.
UM stranded bases loaded in the ninth when Dominic Pitelli struck out swinging.
Clemson struck early when Cam Cannarella opened the bottom of the first with a walk, went to second on Will Taylor’s single and scored on Caden Grice’s single. With two outs, Bertram singled to drive home Taylor for a 2-0 lead. But the Tigers stranded runners on second and third after Blake Wright’s searing line drive to Morales ended the threat.
The Tigers made it 3-0 in the second on a two-out blast to right field by Cannarella.
Miami answered in the third when Pitelli led off with a double that soared over Clemson left fielder Taylor’s head and Jacoby Long then hit an RBI-single. After CJ Kayfus was hit by a pitch and Edgardo Villegas struck out, Clemson brought in right-handed junior right-hander Nick Clayton to relieve left-handed starter Ethan Darden (two runs on three hits, with four strikeouts).
Morales, who reached on a fielder’s choice, then scored on a wild pitch to trail 3-2.
TheCanes tied it at 3 in the fourth on Zach Levenson’s home run to left field.
Jackson Lindley (3-3) got the win, with UM’s Alejandro Torres (4-1) getting his first loss.
This story was originally published May 28, 2023 at 5:36 PM.
