Canes Drop Series to Demon Deacs, Continue To Struggle In ACC

On Friday, Miami opened up a three game series in Winston-Salem against Wake Forest. Miami collected 12 hits, which resulted in an 8-3 series opening victory. David Thompson led the way going 2-4 with a homerun, double, 3 RBIs, and a run scored. Tyler Palmer and Chantz Mack were both 3-4 and Palmer scored three runs as Mack scored two and drove in two as well. Freshman Bandon Lopez homered for the first time in his career too. Chris Diaz had another solid outing as he went seven innings, giving up just one run on seven hits and striking out seven. With the win, Diaz improved his record to 5-4 and his ERA is 1.41. Aj Salcines surrendered two runs in the 9^th inning, but would eventually get Mark Rhine to fly out and end the game, giving the Canes a fourth straight win.

Miami was looking to win game two to win the series, but would blow the game in the 9^th inning and fall to the Demon Deacons 5-4. The Canes trailed 3-0 after Bryan Radziewski allowed three runs in the first. He would not give up any more runs on the day as he went seven innings and struck out ten. Miami would add a run in the 2^nd and 4^th innings, both driven in by Brandon Lopez to cut the lead to 3-2 entering the 8^th inning. Miami struck for two runs in the top of the 8^th as Lopez struck again delivering a two RBI single to give the Canes a 4-3 lead, which was their first of the game. Miami took the lead into the bottom of the 9^th with closer Eric Nedeljkovic looking to end the game, but he gave up an RBI double to Charlie Morgan to tie the game and a single to Matt Conway to give Wake the walk-off win. Radziewski had a rocky first inning, but settled down to have another quality start. Even though he gave up three runs, his ERA still stands at 1.26. Brandon Lopez was 3-4 and drove in all four Miami runs and Alex San Juan was also 3-4 with a run scored.

The Canes were looking to win the rubber game and take the series on Sunday, but would fall Wake Forest 9-3. The game was tied at three after six innings, but the Demon Deacons struck for six runs in the bottom of the 8^th to give Wake the 9-3 win. Miami didn't have much offense as they only collected five hits, but David Thompson and Garrett Kennedy each homered, resulting in all of Miami's runs as Thompson hit a solo home run while Kennedy hit a two-run homer. Andrew Suarez struggled with his command as he only went 4 1/3 innings while giving up three runs on four hits and walking five. Javi Salas took the loss tossing 1 1/3 innings and giving up three unearned runs on one hit and one walk.

This was another bad weekend for Miami was they should've been able to at least take two games from Wake Forest. Wake was 7-18 in the ACC entering the series, but took two of three from the Canes. Miami's record is now 33-20 and 12-15 in the ACC with one series remaining. Miami is currently fifth in the coastal division and there's a chance they might not make the ACC tournament with the ACC being so strong this year. Miami will welcome Georgia Tech to Coral Gables for a three game series beginning on Thursday. Georgia Tech is currently third in the coastal with an overall record of 32-20 and 14-13 in the ACC. This will be another tough series as Georgia Tech has a good squad and they took two of three from previously top-ranked North Carolina this past weekend. Thursday and Friday's games are at 7:30 and the regular season finale is Saturday at 1.