The Hurricanes got off to a hot start at the plate on Thursday, and their bats lifted them to the ACC tournament semifinals.
No. 5 seed Miami took down fourth-seeded Boston College 8-2 in the ACC tournament quarterfinals in Charlotte, North Carolina, advancing to the conference semifinals. UM will face top-seeded Georgia Tech at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Thursday’s win was the 100th of Arteaga’s career.
“Something we’ve been doing all year really is answering back after we go up some runs,” Miami coach J.D. Arteaga said. “Our offense has been relentless and putting up runs right away, and that’s demoralizing on the team.”
The Eagles got off to a quick start against Hurricanes pitcher Lazaro Collera, scoring a pair of first-inning runs. But Collera settled in and did not allow another run over the next four innings.
Meanwhile, Miami’s lineup got to work on the Boston College pitching staff. Shortstop Vance Shehan drove in UM’s first run with a second-inning groundout, and center fielder Fabio Peralta drove in two more with a home run to put the Hurricanes in the lead. Second baseman Jake Ogden scored on a wild pitch before the inning was over.
“I was telling other guys I’m saving them for playoffs because that’s when it matters the most,” Peralta said, “and you want to be (on) the big stage. You want to get to Omaha. So everything has to align right now. So now’s the perfect time for that. It feels great.”
The Hurricanes tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning on a home run by first baseman Alex Sosa.
Freshman third baseman Gabriel Milano added another insurance run with a seventh-inning double, and Dubovik made it an 8-2 game with a fielder’s choice in the eighth inning.
Miami’s bullpen, which struggled at times during the season, locked down the Boston College offense for the final four innings. Nick Robert, Jack Durso, Packy Bradley-Cooney and Lyndon Glidewell each pitched a scoreless inning to close out the game.
