Hurricanes baseball ready for ACC tournament. Plus a Cuvet update
The Miami Hurricanes baseball team knows the stakes from here on out.
“It’s win or go home,” pitcher Rob Evans said, “and you don’t want to lose.”
The Hurricanes (36-17, 16-14 Atlantic Coast Conference) begin play in the 2026 ACC Baseball Tournament on Wednesday at Truist Field in Charlotte, North Carolina. As the No. 5 seed in the tournament, Miami received a first-round bye and will face the winner of Tuesday’s first-round matchup between No. 12 Stanford and No. 13 seed California in the second round at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
UM knows how quickly this single-elimination tournament can end. Last season, the Hurricanes played in the opening game of the tournament, losing 12-2 in eight innings to California.
“It took us longer to get here than the amount of time we were here last year,” Hurricanes coach J.D. Arteaga said. “We played that first game and were home — and by home, I mean Miami — before the second game finished.”
Added pitcher AJ Ciscar: “It simulates that do-or-die sensation you get in the regional. ... It’s just being able to prepare ourselves mentally so we can perform.”
They hope not to repeat that misfortune this year. The Hurricanes have an offense that can hang with anyone in the country, able to put up double-digit runs on a daily basis when everyone is clicking. They have a pair of starting pitchers in Evans and Ciscar who form a dominant one-two punch on the mound. But a struggling bullpen has held this team back from truly reaching its potential.
“You look at the whole entire season, and there are a couple games that we blew there,” Arteaga said.
But Miami’s focus right now is on what’s ahead, and that’s the ACC tournament and generating as much momentum as it can heading into the NCAA tournament and the season-long quest of reaching the College World Series for the first time since 2016.
Evans will start on the mound Wednesday for Miami’s first game of the ACC tournament. Should the Canes advance, Lazaro Collera will start the quarterfinal against No. 4 seed Boston College at 7 p.m. Thursday and then Ciscar would pitch in the semifinal at 1 p.m. Saturday. The championship game is scheduled for noon Sunday.
“At the end of the day, you want to play your best baseball in the playoffs,” outfielder Derek Williams said, “because no matter what, you don’t want to go home early. It helps you lock in every game and focus on what you got to do every game. That’s what we need as a team. You always want to have that challenge to where everybody on the team knows the goal. The goal is obviously to get to Omaha, but it takes steps, and these are the games. ... It’s a challenge to wake up every day and be ready to do what you got to do, but it’s a good challenge for sure.”
Five Hurricanes honored by ACC
The ACC recognized a handful of Hurricanes players on Monday.
Williams, catcher/designated hitter Alex Sosa, third baseman Daniel Cuvet and Evans were all named to the All-ACC second team, while catcher Alonzo Alvarez landed on the All-Freshman team.
Williams finished among the top five in the conference in batting average (.387, fifth), slugging (.702, fifth), OPS (1.174, fourth) and RBI (66, tied for fifth) while also hitting 15 home runs and 15 doubles and scoring 50 runs.
Sosa hit 16 home runs (second among ACC catchers) while posting a .335 batting average, .670 slugging, 1.118 OPS and 57 runs scored.
Cuvet, despite missing the final 13 games of the season with a stress fracture in his back, hit .305 with 12 home runs, 45 RBI and 14 doubles.
Evans finished the regular season with a 9-3 record, 3.21 ERA and 88 strikeouts across 75 2/3 innings pitched while making 13 starts for the Hurricanes.
Alvarez split time between catcher and designated hitter during his freshman season and posted a .301 average with 11 doubles, four home runs and 26 RBI across 45 games.
Latest on Daniel Cuvet
Arteaga on Tuesday said Cuvet, who hasn’t taken part in baseball activities in almost a month, remains day to day and that he could begin hitting balls off a tee in practice. The last game he played was April 19 in Miami’s series finale at Stanford.
“Any progression is encouraging,” Arteaga said. “But with progression comes soreness or setbacks. So when I say day-to-day, it might be minute-to-minute, hour-to-hour. It’s all on him and how he feels. It can’t be easy as an athlete, not being able to do what you live to do. He’s a big part of why we’re here and the start we had. There’s no doubt that we’re better with him on the field. When he’s ready, he’ll be out there.”
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