Miami Hurricanes baseball bypassed as regional host. Here’s where the Canes could play

Susan Miller Degnan
·3 min read

Miami Hurricanes baseball learned Friday that Mark Light Field in Coral Gables will not be one of the 16 NCAA venues that serve as host sites for the upcoming NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.

Actually, the NCAA released 20 possible sites that will be cut down to 16 by the time the field of 64 is announced May 31 for the tournament, which begins with the first-round regionals June 4-7. But because unranked Miami (27-15, 15-14 Atlantic Coast Conference) wasn’t among the 20, the Canes know they will be traveling if they’re selected to compete in the tournament by members of the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee.

There are currently 293 Division I baseball teams, and Miami (27-15, 15-14 Atlantic Coast Conference) has the nation’s 22nd best RPI among them.

Jeff Altier, the Stetson athletic director and chair of the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee, told the Miami Herald earlier this week that “well over 45 teams or schools made bids” to host. The reason the NCAA chose 20 finalists this early instead of just naming the 16 hosts on May 30 is because the COVID-19 pandemic necessitates that there’s enough time to organize and certify testing protocols for each regional and super regional.

The NCAA will later eliminate the four programs which might not be as deserving.

The good news for Miami is that it is coming off a three-game weekend sweep of Appalachian State, with seven regular-season games remaining against winning teams: three home games Friday through Sunday against Georgia Tech (24-18, 18-12), a home game at 6 p.m. Tuesday against FAU (27-21, 16-12 Conference USA) and a three-game weekend series at No. 15 Louisville (26-15, 16-10) May 20-22 before the ACC tournament May 25-30 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“Our record shows we probably play a little better at home than we do on the road,’’ coach Gino DiMare said last weekend of his Hurricanes, who are 16-5 at home and 11-10 on the road. “But to me it’s not about being at home or on the road... We need to worry about the team and how we’re playing, not where we’re playing. We’ve just got to find a way to play just a little bit more solid.

“I told the guy we’ve got seven games left — two big ACC opponents and FAU — and we’ve got to do a better job of playing consistent baseball, more clean and consistent games if we’re going to make a run here at the end.”

As for where the Hurricanes could play for the tournament, here are the 20 possible venues for the first round: Arizona, Florida, Mississippi State, South Carolina, TCU, Arkansas, Gonzaga, Notre Dame, Southern Mississippi, Texas Tech, Charlotte, Louisiana Tech, Oregon, Stanford, Texas, East Carolina, Ole Miss, Pittsburgh, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

Keep in mind that a team cannot play in a regional tournament with a member of its own conference.

The eight second-round super regionals will be selected from the 16 that make the cut.

Regarding projected matchups, no major media outlet projected Miami hosting a regional. A D1Baseball.com projection this week had Miami as a No. 3 seed in Austin with No. 1 regional seed (and projected No. 3 national seed) Texas, No. 2 Michigan and No. 4 Bryant.

BaseballAmerica.com also this week projected the Canes as a No. 3 seed in Lubbock, Texas, with No. 1 regional seed (and projected No. 10 national seed) Texas Tech, No. 2 UCLA and No. 4 Connecticut.

“It would be amazing to host at Mark Light if we had the opportunity,’’ UM outfielder Christian Del Castillo said Sunday. “But we can only control what we can control, so we’re just worried about the next game. Every game matters.”