Welp, that was a deflating weekend for Canes baseball. Don’t really have the vibe to get through the usual opening cheery paragraph, so let’s get to Miami athletics without further delay.
1) A true stinker of a weekend for the Canes after such a strong streak of play.
The Canes were swept by Virginia, handing Miami three straight losses in ACC play after 10 straight conference wins. Looking at that through the eyes of positivity, the Canes are still in good shape for making the NCAA Tournament. Miami sits at a respectable 14-12 in ACC play. That’s good enough for eighth in the conference by half a game. The top 8 teams get a bye in the ACC Tournament next week. That’s important.
2) However, the hope of hosting, absent a sweep of Notre Dame and an ACC tourney title, is gone-zo after that performance.
Miami had been flirting with the host line, potentially, if they’d kept on winning. But the sweep at the hands of the Cavaliers should see Miami on the road as a 2 or 3 seed come Selection Monday. Oh well. Road it is.
3) The losses on Saturday and Sunday were particularly tough to swallow.
On Saturday, Miami had moved out to a commanding 7-3 lead after a grand slam by Renzo Gonzalez in the third. Unfortunately, there was too much game left, and bad pitching from a suddenly cold pitching stable saw UVa claw their way back into it. Even Brian Walters, who came in during the seventh inning, wasn’t immune, as he was tagged for two runs in the ninth with Miami clinging to a 9-8 lead that turned into a 10-9 walk off loss to clinch the series for UVa.
It went the other way on Sunday, as Miami fell into a 7-0 hole after four innings, but fought their way back to make things very interesting. After posting a 5-run seventh inning, they got the winning run to the plate in the top of the ninth inning with no outs. Unfortunately, Dorian Gonzalez, Jr. and Jake Kuliakowski struck out, and Nolan Johnson flied out to center to end it at 8-6. A rough weekend, but one they’ve got to flush and move on to a crucial series against Notre Dame at home this weekend.
4) Cam Ward admitted what many knew: that he helped get Xavier Restrepo to end up in Nashville with him.
Cam Ward says he pushed for the Titans to sign UDFA WR Xavier Restrepo…
but he did that with every NFL team he met with during the draft process pic.twitter.com/YXZnchBPCN
— AtoZ Sports Nashville (@AtoZSports) May 10, 2025
Ward said he pushed for the team to sign him, and honestly, why not? I’m still amazed that he didn’t get drafted. Teams are going to regret that oversight, I truly believe that. He’s a tremendous football player with a future in the league.
5) Yes, I know about what happened with Miami LB Adarius Hayes. No, I’m not going to go into it.
We don’t know the particulars; it’s still being investigated. I just feel so terrible that three lives were lost and pray for their families. So tragic.
6) 2026 #1 overall recruit OT Jackson Cantwell is making his decision tomorrow.
Basically, it looks pretty obvious that he’s going to go play for former UM OL coach Stacy Searels at Georgia. Will be a very unfortunate miss if he ends up there, but go ahead and get ready for that happening. Cantwell visited Georgia last weekend, and it looks like he had a great time there.
JC x JC❔ pic.twitter.com/vgOzbRyOPa
— Jackson Cantwell (@jcantwell2499) May 11, 2025
That’s all I’ve got today. Have a great week, and go Canes.