First Pitch: ACC Quarterfinal vs. Miami

Conference realignment within the college sports landscape usually begins with a conversation cloaked by a 21st century lens created by the Atlantic Coast Conference. The decision to add teams specifically from the old Big East extended a nine-team league once based largely around Tobacco Road and the Carolinas, thereby creating a new conference capable of reaching both the northern outposts of New England alongside the southern tip of Florida's tropical climates. In the years that followed, the scramble to create power conferences cannibalized the tribalism once prevalent in regional-based conferences, ultimately leaving college sports with a current state that humorously pushes teams from Texas and the Pacific into leagues based in the Midwest and Southeast.

Most of these decisions revolved around football and surviving an ever-changing gridiron landscape, so the conversation surrounding the ACC's initial decision to add Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech never really approached diamond sports and the shockwaves felt throughout the college baseball universe. The thought of the Hurricanes in a new league especially rattled the core of the sport, especially since the U, in all of its glory, managed to avoid joining a league when it initially jumped into the Big East in the early-1990s.

That's right, folks. Long before the world grew definition from all-sports conferences capable of elevating revenues across all sports with exclusive networks, the Miami baseball program stood out as a dominant independent that didn't need a conference. Former head coach Ron Fraser spent 30 years building a 1,200-win machine as the so-called "Wizard of College Baseball," and his teams set NCAA baseball records with tournament appearances in 20 consecutive seasons. A two-time national champion, he successfully persuaded the university to build Mark Light Stadium as a conduit for the team's success, and his achievements spilled directly into a 25-year reign under Jim Morris, who retired after the 2018 season.

Miami never ventured north and only nominally played individual series in the 1990s against teams like Notre Dame, Michigan and Minnesota. Games against Maine, of all teams, brought them to New England at the turn of the 1990s decade, but the majority of teams traveled south to play the Hurricanes because of their ability to host idyllic settings during the winter non-conference months. Rivalries were more entrenched against local state teams, including the burgeoning powers from Florida International, South Florida, and Central Florida. A shift into the ACC was therefore largely considered an alternative shift within the entire baseball landscape.

From a Boston College perspective, this naturally translated to a lack of history. The teams didn't play one another before the Hurricanes blew the Eagles out of Coral Gables during a non-conference series in 2003, and BC didn't win a game at Mark Light Stadium until 2010. The only hint of a rivalry developed when BC won two-of-three games during a transitional year in 2013, at least until 2016 and the Super Regional that started and ended with BC nabbing a game from the Canes ahead of the wild and explosive third game loss.

All of this more naturally yields unknowns ahead of Thursday's Quarterfinal round. Even with recent history and more sustained success, including this year's first-ever series win at the Light, there's a novelty associated with facing this particular program.

Here's what to watch for when BC and Miami duel in the ACC Championship:

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Around The Horn

Miami's roster construction took a giant step forward over the course of the season after its team improved its overall batting average by 25 points. A subsequent 16 percent increase in run production powered the team by improving its ability to knock the ball around a baseball stadium, and a revamped lineup created a three-headed monster between the blast radius created by Derek Williams, Alex Sosa and Daniel Cuvet.

An April injury to Cuvet robbed him of the final month of his regular season, but his absence created opportunities for players like Alonzo Alvarez, who crushed Stanford pitching for two homers during Wednesday's Second Round matchup. A .318 hitter with an OPS just shy of those top bats, he transformed the Hurricanes as the leader of a freshman class that filled the team's lower-middle of the lineup.

"Alvarez had a great day with four hits and a couple of home runs," said head coach J.D. Arteaga, "[but] we had three freshmen hitting 5-6-7, and they all contributed. So with some way or another, [the win over Stanford] is a great sign of what our future looks like, and this team's starting to come together."

Facing the Hurricanes requires a pitcher to balance and change speeds with movement in any direction, so Friday starter AJ Colarusso is the logical choice for a team that could bring him back for a potential ACC Championship Game appearance over the weekend. That said, his three innings against Miami matched innings work against NJIT for his shortest outing of the season, and he can't fall behind batters or lose hitters after getting ahead in the count. Back in March, he surrendered two runs in the first because he walked the second hitter after getting ahead 0-2 on the count, which led to a two-on, nobody-out situation for Cuvet, who singled to right center and advanced to second on a fielding error.

"[Pitching coach Ryan Forrest] did a really good job of creating depth [in our pitching staff,]" said BC head coach Todd Interdonato. "If you look at our stat sheet, we have five or six guys that have a save, and that's a crazy stat. So I can tell anybody in the locker room that we're going to finish with [a certain guy,] and the resilience comes from those guys going to bed confident in what we've lined up on the mound."

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On The Bump

Miami's decision to pitch Rob Evans in Wednesday's win over Stanford created flexibility for Arteaga after he threw 90 pitches across even innings in the 11-2 win, and virtually the entire staff remained intact after the Hurricanes finished the game with Jake Dorn and Massachusetts native-slash-Alabama transfer Packy Bradley-Cooney.

That said, the decision to start Lazaro Collera against Boston College created a bit of a gap for the staff because he didn't stretch out into regular starting work until the season's last month or so. Having pitched twice against Boston College, he hasn't seen the Eagles for longer than a full inning's worth of work and was responsible for the first game loss in extra innings against BC.

"Stanford came in with a really good game plan," said Arteaga after yesterday's win. "Their plan was to take away [Rob's] slider, and kudos to [our pitching staff] for recognizing it and making an adjustment. He really pitched off of his fastball, which is still his best pitch, and he located his fastball in-and-out on the slider to get some quickouts. It's nice to get seven innings, but it's even nicer that he got seven innings and 90 pitches. He's got some extra rest, but we're not going to overextend him anyways."

BC has to avoid letting Collera get ahead of the same situation. His WHIP is significantly higher than Evans and back-end relief pitcher Lyndon Glidewell, so getting a higher pitch count against a power pitcher who struck out 63 hitters but walked just under 30 players means hitters have to use their intelligence and patience. Running the bases - already a BC strength - is also something to watch against Alvarez, who threw out nine of the 19 batters that ran on him during the year.

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Baseball Fun Fact Of The Day

Five former Miami baseball players once suited up for the Boston Red Sox, including former second baseman and recently-deposed manager Alex Cora. A three-year member of the Hurricanes, he hit .307 as a freshman and .304 as a junior before the Los Angeles Dodgers selected him in the third round of the 1996 Major League Baseball entry draft.

That said, his final game in a Miami uniform occurred when the Hurricanes lost the College World Series championship to LSU on Warren Morris' two-out, two-run walk-off home run against Robbie Morrison in the bottom of the ninth. Down by one, the All-American missed nearly the entire 1996 season before returning for the postseason, and that home run was the first long ball of his entire season.

Perhaps most notably, the two pitchers named to the All-Tournament Team included LSU's Ed Yarnell, who would later throw over parts of two years for the New York Yankees before finishing his career in Japan, and Miami's J.D. Arteaga - now the head coach of the Hurricanes.

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Dan's Batting Practice Song and Final Thought

Cuz I'm back in the saddle like some old cowboy,
Who dug his way out of the grave.
Pulled up his boots, put his pistol his hip,
Climbed up and took hold of the reins.
Don't worry where I've been, I'm back in the saddle again.
-Luke Combs, "Back in the Saddle"

My wife and I went on vacation to Las Vegas in 2016 without ever thinking that my work obligations would stretch deep into the NCAA Tournament, so she wasn't exactly thrilled when I fired up an early-morning tablet for the Super Regional third game between BC and Miami. A couple of hours later, she was even less thrilled when I drew attention poolside for yelling at the tablet as benches cleared following Edgar Michelangeli's game-sealing home run celebration against my beloved Birdballers.

Ten years later, I'm still partially in awe of Miami's history and the beauty of playing one of baseball's most historic programs, but I'm no longer intimidated by the scripted-M, the Mark Light shake, or the pages-long tradition of the Hurricanes' glory years. For the better part of the last decade, Boston College consistently proved its worth against teams perceived as better, and this year's had no shortage of success in getting the Eagles to the No. 4 seed of the ACC Tournament.

This is nowhere near an old school matchup in the college baseball landscape, but the rugged and hard-nosed reputation of the Northeast is still very much in contrast to the flashy dramatics of a team from South Florida. Clashing in Charlotte is perfect theater, and it's game on at Truist Field.

Boston College and Miami are set for a 3 p.m. first pitch on Thursday in the Quarterfinals of the 2026 ACC Baseball Championship, from Truist Field in Charlotte, North Carolina. National television coverage is available on the ACC Network with streaming available through ESPN's family of Internet and mobile device apps.

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