Miami falls to Texas again to end season and quash College World Series dreams
A fifth national championship will have to wait.
The University of Miami’s dream of getting to Omaha, Nebraska for the 26th time in its storied history ended again in frustration Sunday night at the Coral Gables Regional of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship.
No. 2 regional seed Texas, the team that gave top-seeded UM its first regional loss Saturday, eliminated the Hurricanes 10-6 to end Miami’s season, win the regional title and advance to one of eight super regionals next weekend against the winner of the Stanford Regional.
UM’s final 2023 record: 42-21.
Texas, in the Big 12, rose to 41-20.
The eighth-ranked Hurricanes, seeded 9th overall of the 64 tournament teams, will be sitting at home for the seventh consecutive year when the College World Series begins June 15 in Omaha, Nebraska.
“When it comes to an end, it comes to a sudden end,’’ said UM coach Gino DiMare, sitting with UM stars Yohandy “Yoyo” Morales and Andrew Walters. “It’s abrupt, it’s quick, it’s fast, it’s hard, it’s tough, it’s disappointing — very disappointing not to reach our goal. But I’m very proud of our team.
“This team overcame a lot. To do what we did with our pitching staff is just absolutely amazing, to have really one starter the second half of the season for the most part, just says a lot to be able to do what we did and put ourselves in position. It was going to be tough to play five games in four days. But our guys kept battling.
“It’s not easy. Everyone is very disappointed.’’
Miami’s prolific long ball gave the Hurricanes life — although at first temporarily — when shortstop Dominic Pitelli hit his 13th home run, a second-inning three-run blast that drove home Blake Cyr and Zach Levenson, who were both hit by pitches.
Scoring spree
But by the bottom of the third at Mark Light Field, Texas, designated the home team, had put a pounding on the Hurricanes from which they couldn’t recover. The Longhorns’ nine-run scoring spree on seven hits was highlighted by a grand slam by freshman Jalin Flores, who drove home Garret Guillemette (double), Porter Brown (walk) and Eric Kennedy (walk) to make it 9-3.
Flores said “the emotions” after hitting the slam “were very high.’’
Peyton Powell tied the score at 3 with his single to right field, and Guillemette’s 2-RBI double against Canes reliever Carlos Lequerica provided the go-ahead runs for a 5-3 Longhorns lead.
UM third baseman Morales, in likely his final game as a Hurricane, hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning to cut the Texas lead to 10-6 after Texas scored an unearned run in the sixth. Morales’ blast was his 20th of the season, third of the day and first in the latter game. He finished his UM career with 49 home runs, passing Kevin Brown (1998-1001) for fourth all-time at UM. He also finished 10th all-time in UM hits, with 237 and sixth for a single season with 98.
Morales’ 2023 batting average: .408 — seventh all-time in a UM single season.
“Best three years of my life,’’ Morales said. “Truly special to be here.’’
Said Walters: “Truly an amazing experience coming here and playing for the U. I can’t even put it in words. It’s something that has to be experienced. It’s made me a better man, a better athlete in all aspects of the game and life.’’
UM used four pitchers Sunday against Texas. Right-handed junior starter Ronaldo Gallo (2-4), charged with the loss, allowed five earned runs on four hits and one walk in 2 1/3 innings.
Longhorn Charlie Hurley (5-0) allowed three earned runs on four hits and a walk in 4 1/3 innings for the victory.
By the time the Canes were eliminated, they had played three regional games in about 24 hours. After defeating Maine 9-1 on Friday night, UM lost to Texas 4-1 late Saturday in a game that ended at about 11 p.m. By noon Sunday the Canes were back on the field against Louisiana, sending the Ragin’ Cajuns home with an 8-5 victory highlighted by four UM home runs. Then came the Longhorns and that lethal third inning.
DiMare’s message
DiMare’s message to his players: “I told them I was very proud of them and I loved them. They’re like my family. I told the guys that ones like [Morales and Walters] are probably not going to be back. I wished them all the best, appreciated everything they did. They’ll be Hurricanes for life, the greatest experience of your life.
“It’s very difficult. Everything is so right at you. It’s raw, so it’s hard to put it all into words. Will be good to gather my thoughts and meet with the team on Tuesday and have individual meetings after that.
“Very proud of what were able to do, despite all the setbacks... But, also at the end of the day we all know we didn’t reach our goal, didn’t get to a super regional, didn’t get to Omaha. It’s very disappointing.’’
