Canes zone in on Maine, but keep tucked in their minds ‘the world crashing down’ in ‘22

University of Miami baseball coach Gino DiMare insists his Hurricanes laser focus on what’s directly in front of them — “the most important game of the season’’ he repeatedly says.

But as the surging No. 9 national seed Hurricanes (40-19) were winding down their season and heading toward Friday’s 7 p.m. opening game with Maine (32-19) in the Coral Gables Regional of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, DiMare wanted his veterans to recall the feeling of how last year ended.

“I want to make sure those guys remember exactly how we felt sitting here and watching ultimately the national championship team win [our regional],’’ DiMare said before the postseason began. “We had the lead late in both [regional] games and lost them by one run. You would have thought the end of the world came crashing down on us.’’

The four-time national champion Hurricanes haven’t forgotten. Miami, seeded sixth nationally in 2022, opened last year’s double-elimination tournament at Mark Light Field by beating No. 4 regional seed Canisius. The next day, Miami fell to the Ole Miss Rebels 2-1. Then, on tournament Sunday, UM — up 3-2 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth — crumbled to lose 4-3 to Arizona, which then lost to Ole Miss in the final.

Ole Miss won its super regional and ultimately headed to Omaha, Nebraska, to win the College World Series.

This weekend, No. 3 regional seed Louisiana (40-22) of the Sun Belt will open the Coral Gables Regional against No. 2 seed Texas (38-20) of the Big 12 at 2 p.m..

“You hate to lose, you always remember ‘em and you never want to let that happen again,’’ All-American closer Andrew Walters said previously of the ‘22 regional, adding this past Monday that the Canes “used that as motivation to flip the script. “This season we’re on the way up and playing some of our best baseball going into this regional. It’s a different feeling for sure.’’

And it’s a different season for sure. Last season, Miami lost eight of its last 11 games. This season, UM has won 13 of its past 16 games and is 28-5 at home. On Saturday, the Canes defeated top-ranked and No. 1 national seed Wake Forest to advance to the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament final in Durham, North Carolina, where UM lost to No. 4 national seed Clemson (43-17), now in the midst of a 16-game winning streak.

UM has 19 come-from-behind wins, including four in walk-off fashion.

“We’re trying to get to Omaha, that’s always our goal,’’ DiMare said. “But it’s a process. Omaha doesn’t occur unless you take care of business. Those 25 trips to Omaha didn’t just happen. You’ve got to play good baseball. And I feel like we’re doing that.’’

DiMare announced Thursday morning that right-handed sophomore Gage Ziehl (7-4, 4.60) will start the first game. Maine is starting right-handed sophomore Colin Fitzgerald (6-1, 4.48).

CWS history

The 64-team field in the NCAA tournament is competing this weekend in 16, four-team regionals. The Coral Gables Regional is one of only three in which all four teams have competed in the College World Series. The Hurricanes and Longhorns have combined for 71 College World Series appearances — 37 (most all-time) by Texas and UM’s 25 (second most).

Maine has been to the College World Series seven times, but has yet to win a national title.

The home run-hitting Hurricanes are seventh nationally with 112 homers, second all-time for a single UM season. Their record is 139 in 1998, a year before they won their third national championship and three years before they won their fourth.

UM is led by third baseman Yohandy Morales, a first-team All-ACC honoree and Golden Spikes Award semifinalist hitting .405 with 16 home runs, 90 hits, 61 RBI and a .680 slugging percentage. Also hitting above .300 are outfielder Zach Levenson (.301 with 17 doubles and 13 HRs); second baseman Blake Cyr (.303 with 16 home runs and 60 RBI); and first baseman CJ Kayfus (.351 with 13 home runs).

Closer Walters (4-0) has had another excellent season, posting a 1.08 ERA with 11 saves in 15 appearances.

“I know we’re an Omaha team,’’ said Morales. “I know what we can do. We’re all just embracing this and moving forward.”

Black Bears

Maine advanced to the regionals for the first time since 2011 by winning the America East championship against Binghamton University. UM has a long history with Maine. The Canes are 67-14 all-time against the Black Bears, their first meeting in 1976 and last in 2018.

Maine also is strong offensively, with a .293 team batting average and four players with double-digit home runs, three of them with at least 16 homers apiece.

The Black Bears are led by 6-4, 238-pound sophomore Jeremiah Jenkins (.378, 20 homers), who ranks 14th nationally with 75 RBI. Junior infielder Quinn McDaniel has 16 home runs and is fourth nationally with 60 walks, sixth with 76 runs scored and 17th with 32 stolen bases. And Jake Rainess has 16 home runs and is fourth nationally with 38 steals.

The winners of Friday’s games advance to a 6 p.m. Saturday game. The losers head to the losers’ bracket at noon Saturday. The first possible championship game is at 6 p.m. Sunday. If a team in the Sunday game gets its first tournament loss, then a winner-take-all Monday game, with a time not yet set, would be played.