Miami Exits ACC Tournament Early In Embarrassing Fashion
Cam Ward wasn't coming to save the day as the Miami Hurricanes get run-ruled in the 8th inning against the California Golden Bears, 12-2, in an embarrassing exit in the first round of the ACC Tournament.
The Hurricanes had one of the easiest paths to the ACC Championship despite falling out of the double bye and single bye scenario they had before entering the downward spiral, losing the last six out of seven games to close the season. Against the Golden Bears, the Hurricanes failed to show up offensively and defensively.
Offensively, Golden Spikes semi-finalist Daniel Cuvet was the only Hurricane who was ready to play today, while everyone else was dominated by Cal starter Oliver De la Torre. Catcher Tanner Smith hit a two-run home run that brought in Cuvet to score the only two runs for the Canes on the day. On the other side of the plate, the Hurricanes' bullpen haunted the team once again.
The Hurricanes started with pitcher Griffin Hugus, who gave up his usual home run early in the game, and finished his game earlier than most expected. He went three innings, giving up three hits and four runs. When he stepped off the mound, it was 2-0. A reasonable feat that the Hurricanes could come back from. The issue was coach J.D. Arteaga pulling him early when he got into a bit of trouble, allowing a nightmare fourth inning that ended the postseason dreams of the Hurricanes.
Carson Fischer, Will Smith, Alex Giroux, Rob Evans, Brian Walters, and Jackson Cleveland all entered the game and did not have any positive outs. 6 walks turned into runs, and in the fourth, the bases were loaded for nearly 20 full minutes of live action. The Bullpen was a cause for concern before exiting for the ACC Tournament, and it was a problem once again.
Now the Hurricanes will be sweating out a bid into the NCAA Tournament on Selection Sunday. For what it is worth, based on RPI (31) and strength of schedule (6), they should still be a 3-seed, but the end-of-the-season performance would be a cause for concern if they did miss the tournament.
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Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University earning a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Communications with a concentration in Print and Digital Journalism. During his time in Starkville, he spent a year as an intern working for Mississippi State On SI primarily covering basketball, football, baseball, and soccer while writing, recording, and creating multimedia stories during his tenor. Since graduating, he has assumed the role of lead staff writer for Miami Hurricanes On SI covering football, basketball, baseball, and all things Hurricanes related.
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