Miami’s road to the College World Series starts against Maine in Friday’s NCAA regional

The 11th-ranked University of Miami just missed out on being named one of eight national seeds Monday when the NCAA revealed its field of 64 for the Division I Baseball Championship that opens this weekend and concludes with the College World Series.

But the following programs that were announced Monday as joining the Coral Gables regional No. 1 seed Hurricanes (40-19) for double-elimination, first-round play that begins Friday at Mark Light Field, likely expect a tough task against a surging UM team that has won 13 of its past 16 games: No. 4 regional seed Maine (32-19) of the America East Conference; No 3 regional seed Louisiana (40-22) of the Sun Belt; and No. 2 regional seed Texas (38-20) of the Big 12.

Miami, which lost Sunday to sixth-ranked Clemson in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championship game but defeated top-ranked Wake Forest to reach the final, will open its regional at 7 p.m. Friday (ESPN+) against Maine. Texas opens at 2 p.m. (UT’s Longhorn Network) that day against Louisiana.

“Exciting time of the year,’’ UM coach Gino DiMare said from the UM dugout after the NCAA announcement. “Proud of our guys the way we played down the stretch. We’re going into the regional with probably a little bit different mindset, feeling, than going into this regional last year, [when] we kind of limped into it. We’re playing some of our best baseball right now.

“...Our goal is to get to Omaha and win a national championship.’’

The top eight national seeds will have host status for the second-round super regionals if they win their regionals. The Canes, the No. 9 NCAA tournament seed whose RPI is No. 12 of 305 Division I baseball teams, could still end up hosting a super regional if they win their regional and the top-8 seed in their corresponding bracket loses in the first round.

Opposite Stanford

The Hurricanes’ bracket is paired with the Stanford, California regional that includes No. 8 national seed host/No. 1 regional seed Stanford (38-16); No. 2 regional seed Texas A&M (36-25); No. 3 regional seed Cal State Fullerton (31-22); and No. 4 regional seed San Jose State (31-25).

“We love playing here. We love playing in front of our fans, ’’ Canes outfielder Zach Levenson said Monday. “We have a lot of confidence here.’’

Levenson said “at that split second’’ when the Hurricanes realized they were edged out of a national seed, “it sucked.

“But we got the 9 seed so we’ve got to deal with it. We like where the field is at right now.’’

The Maine Black Bears defeated Binghamton 6-1 on Saturday for the America East Conference Tournament title for the first time since 2011. The Black Bears are an offensive, base-running threat. They now have a program-record 83 home runs, led by 6-4, 238-pound sophomore Jeremiah Jenkins (.378), who has 20 homers and is 14th nationally with 75 RBI. Another standout: 5-11, 180-pound junior infielder Quinn McDaniel, who is fourth in the nation with 60 walks and sixth nationally with 76 runs scored. And Jake Rainess is fourth in the nation with 38 steals.

UM, which last played Maine in 2018, has a long history with the Black Bears. The Canes first played Maine in 1976 and lead the series 67-15.

“We know what we can do, we know we’re one of the top teams out there and we can compete with anybody, and we’re going into this tournament just thinking about Maine,’’ said UM star third baseman Yohandy Morales, the Golden Spikes Award semifinalist who leads UM with a .405 batting average, 16 home runs, 90 hits and 61 RBI. “...Everybody is hungry right now.’’

Clubhouse reaction

On Monday, the Hurricanes and their coaches gathered shoulder-to-shoulder in their clubhouse for the NCAA’s selection show live on ESPN2, groaning when they learned that Stanford was awarded the No. 8 national seed — but applauding when their regional field was announced. Last year, the Canes were named the No. 6 national seed but ultimately gave up the winning run to Arizona with two outs in the bottom of the ninth of their regional elimination game.

The other team in the 2022 Coral Gables regional, Ole Miss, also beat UM in last year’s opening round — then went on to win the College World Series. UM, national champions in 1982, 1985, 1999 and 2001, has advanced to the College World Series 25 times, but has not been there since 2016. The Canes are making their 49th postseason appearance and have the all-time NCAA regional record of 130-52 (.714), including an 89-19 (.824) mark at The Light.

If UM prevails this weekend, the Canes would meet the winner of the Stanford regional in one of the eight, two-team super regionals around the country. Those eight winners of their best-of-3 super regionals earn berths in the College World Series, which begins June 16.

Tickets to the Coral Gables regional go on sale at 9 a.m. Tuesday at MiamiHurricanes.com.