Stormin' Omaha
Miami is hot - and no, we're not talking about the streaking Heat.
"Going out here tonight and winning 11-1 and swinging the bats like we did, and Scott pitching like he did against a nationally ranked team like Oregon State, I think we're coming out here showing everybody we're for real," said Dennis Raben, who homered and drove in four runs to help lift Miami to an 11-1 victory in their College World Series opener Saturday night.
The Hurricanes, who face Rice tonight at 7 p.m., are, to be more accurate, hot-t-t-t-t-t - winning six of their last seven since being eliminated from the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament by fellow CWS participant Georgia Tech last month.
To say that the run was unexpected would be putting things mildly. The loss to the Yellow Jackets in Jacksonville ended a stretch of one win in five games for the 'Canes, who were 36-21 heading into the NCAA tournament.
But that's baseball - it's not about winning early or even late; it's about winning when losing means going home.
Two more wins, and Miami will be where Miami teams expect to be when they suit up in January - in Omaha with a chance at a national title.
If they're able to pull it off, nobody will notice the few dozen eggs broken on the way there.
- Chris Graham