‘Canes baseball team earns nation’s No. 1 ranking – Sun Sentinel
The Hurricanes didn’t get to play as many games this weekend as they wanted. But the one they did get in — a 10-2 victory over Notre Dame in chilly South Bend — helped make them the nation’s top-ranked baseball team.
Miami, which has won nine straight games and 20 of its last 22, took the top spot in the most recent Baseball America Top 25 which was released early Monday morning.
The Hurricanes (25-4 overall, 11-2 ACC) rose a spot in the rankings after going 2-0 last week while rival Florida, which previously held the top spot, dropped two of three against Mississippi State.
According to Baseball America, it’s the first time Miami has held the top spot since June 10, 2008. Florida, meanwhile, fell to No. 3.
The Hurricanes also rose to the top spot in three other college baseball polls released Monday: The Perfect Game Top 25, the D1 Baseball Top 25 and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. Miami also earned the top spot in the USA Today Coaches Poll, earning 26 of 31 possible first-place votes by coaches.
And little of it came as a surprise to veteran coach Jim Morris, who kept tabs on how some of the ranked teams fared during his down time in Indiana.
“It’s special. It’s quite an achievement for our team that is playing very, very well,” Morris said. “I had a meeting when we got back [Sunday night] and talked to them about the fact that I thought we would be ranked No. 1 because I saw who lost games. … But it’s far from over. Now the toughest thing is to see if you can stay there.”
The Hurricanes saw their first two games against Notre Dame cancelled because of snowy conditions in South Bend. But Miami was impressive in the series finale on Sunday with sophomore Michael Mediavilla giving up just four hits in six innings, while junior slugger Zack Collins was 3-for-5 with a three-run homer and a two-run double.
Entering the week, the Hurricanes have five of their regular position players hitting over .300, led by Collins’ .424 average. The former American Heritage-Plantation standout also has a team-high 36 RBI and seven home runs.
Miami’s pitching staff, meanwhile, is led by Mediavilla and Jesse Lepore, neither of whom have lost yet this season. Mediavilla picked up his sixth win of the year against the Irish on Sunday and saw his ERA drop to 2.58, while Lepore is 4-0 with a 2.34 ERA.
Now, Morris said, he wants to see his team performing at a high level, especially with the postseason looming next month and teams across the ACC looking to knock the top-ranked Hurricanes off.
“Miami is Miami and I think people love to hate us,” Morris said. “They come after us every day because of the great tradition we’ve had at Miami for over 40 years. I think any time any team can throw their ace or whatever to get after us, we have to be ready to compete.”
To make up for the games canceled at Notre Dame, the Hurricanes announced Sunday they are adding a Tuesday contest against Nova Southeastern. The game, with first pitch set for 6 p.m. at Mark Light Field, will be the schools’ first meeting since 1996. Miami owns a 4-0 record in the all-time series against the Sharks.
Wednesday, Miami will host UCF. The Hurricanes will then head to Durham for a three-game series against Duke beginning Friday.
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