Hurricanes baseball avoids sweep at Florida State. Next up: ACC tournament play
After dropping the first two games of a series against their in-state rival, the Miami Hurricanes salvaged the finale of their final regular-season set.
Miami beat the Florida State Seminoles, ranked No. 8 by Perfect Game and No. 11 by D1Baseball and Baseball America, 7-4 on Saturday at Tallahassee’s Dick Howser Stadium but not before losing the first two games of the series 7-6 in 11 innings after blowing a 6-1 lead on Thursday and getting run-ruled 11-1 in eight innings on Friday.
So yes, the Hurricanes (36-17, 16-14 Atlantic Coast Conference) avoided the worst-case scenario with the win on Saturday, one fueled by a late power surge with home runs from Gabriel Milano, Derek Williams and Alex Sosa along with a stellar start on the mound from sophomore AJ Ciscar (one earned run over seven innings).
But Miami also once again showed its weaknesses against FSU (38-16, 19-11 ACC) that could hold it back from making a long postseason run.
In particular, the bullpen struggled mightily again and the team’s defense had a slew of lapses.
Miami’s relief pitchers corps gave up 15 runs over 10 2/3 innings against Florida State.
On Thursday, the Hurricanes went to the bullpen up 6-1 after seven innings only to give up five runs in the eighth and ninth innings and then lose on a bases-loaded walk to foil a strong start from Rob Evans (one earned run over seven innings). On Friday, starter Lazaro Collera gave up five runs (four earned runs) in just 2 2/3 innings and the bullpen fared no better with six runs (five earned runs) allowed over five innings before FSU secured the mercy rule victory. The bullpen also gave up three runs over two innings in the finale on Saturday.
In the field, Miami committed four errors in the series, including three on Friday, to bring their season total up to 82. Duke is the only team in the conference with more errors.
ACC Tournament up next
The Hurricanes now shift their attention to the ACC tournament, which takes place Tuesday through Sunday at Charlotte’s Truist Field.
Miami will be the No. 5 seed in the tournament and gets a first-round bye in the single-elimination tournament as a result. The Hurricanes will open on Wednesday at 1 p.m. against the winner of the first-round matchup between No. 12 Stanford and No. 13 California, two teams the Hurricanes won series against during the regular season.
With a win on Wednesday, the Hurricanes would play a familiar opponent in the quarterfinals in No. 4 seed Boston College at 7 p.m. Thursday. The Eagles took two of three against the Hurricanes in early March to open conference play.
This story was originally published May 16, 2026 at 6:03 PM.
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