Miami Heads to Louisville For a Top-25 ACC Matchup

The Canes took two out of three from the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets last weekend before moving on to a midweek matchup against FAU. FAU had taken two out of the first three matchups against Miami this season, but the Canes evened the series at two in the fourth and final matchup of the year. Miami’s offense exploded for six home runs in the game, including four in one inning, as they won a 12-9 shootout. Now UM will travel to Louisville to take on the top-25 Cardinals team in a three game conference series.

The Canes finally got over the hump over of winning a series on the road when they took two out of three from North Carolina in Chapel Hill earlier this month. Even after securing the road series win against North Carolina, the Canes still hold a 4-11 record on the road. Miami will look to build on their performance against the Tar Heels and prove they can beat quality opponents away from Mark Light Field when they head to Louisville on Thursday. UM will rely on LifeWallet athletes CJ Kayfus and Yohandy Morales to continue to help carry them offensively. Both Kayfus and Morales hit two home runs in the Canes’ midweek win against FAU. A series win against the Cardinals would be a huge confidence boost for the Canes and would help them tremendously in a tight race at the top of the ACC Coastal. 

Louisville comes into this weekend series as a team that has a lot of people confused. The Cardinals looked like they were going to be a championship competitor and were a top 12 team just a few weeks ago. Then they went on a stretch of losing six out of seven games which nearly dropped them completely out of the top 25. Many had started to write them off as serious competitors on a national level and in the ACC before they went on the road this week and shutout the top-10 Kentucky Wildcats in a 7-0 win. Louisville is a team that, much like Miami, plays much better at home than on the road. The Canes will be walking into Jim Patterson Stadium where the Cardinals have an impressive record of 20-5 on the year. 

This ACC matchup will get started on Thursday night with the first pitch coming at 7:00pm. Thursday’s game will be available nationally on the ACC Network. Games two and three will be on Friday and Saturday and will only be available on the ACC Digital Network. This will be a big series for the Canes to show that the series win vs UNC wasn’t a fluke and one of Miami’s last opportunities to play a quality opponent on the road. After the Saturday night game in Louisville, the Canes will have nearly a full week off before returning home to face Presbyterian next Friday night.