At the beginning of the year, third baseman Yohandy "YoYo" Morales said that the Miami Hurricanes baseball team "looks like an Omaha team."

After a 40-19 (18-12) overall record, and an ACC Championship game appearance, Morales has not wavered.

"I still believe it, Morales said just after I know we're an Omaha team. I know what we can do. Nobody sees what we do outside of the media and what everybody sees on the field. Nobody knows what we're doing practicing our butts off here. Players are away from home sacrificing their time to be here. We're all just embracing this and moving forward with it so, I know we have a special team here and I know we can get this thing done."

Morales was named the team MVP and leads the team in batting average (.405), tied for the lead in home runs (16), and leads the team in RBIs (61). According to ESPN, Morales is projected to be the first pick of the New York Mets.

YoYo is one of six players on the team to hit double-digit home runs this season. First baseman CJ Kayfus (13), second baseman Blake Cyr (16), left fielder Zach Levenson (13), shortstop Dominic Pitelli (11), and catcher Carlos Perez (13) are all threats to go deep at any moment.

Miami is tied for seventh nationally and leads the ACC with 112 home runs. The 112 homers are the second-most in program history.

"You never know, a home run could decide games by one run, two runs, and one of those big home runs can give you the win," Morales said. "So, we know what we have, like I said, base runners get on base. We're just playing really well as a team right now so, I like our chances."

UM has totaled 19 come-from-behind victories, tallying five wins when trailing after the sixth, including three walk-offs. Most recently the Hurricanes came back in the 8th inning to defeat Duke in the ACC Tournament.

"They don't call us the 'Cardiac Canes' for no reason," Morales said. "We always fight until the last out so, we're going to fight no matter what."

Miami was in this situation last year hosting a regional in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. Miami lost three of its last four games going into the tournament, and unfortunately, the Hurricanes were eliminated by the eventual national champions Ole Miss. The team feels confident that it will not happen again.

“Obviously, last season, we kind of had like a down slip going into the regional and we used that as motivation to flip the script,” closing pitcher Andrew Walters said. “This season, we’re on the way up and we’re playing some of our best baseball going into this regional. So, it’s a different feeling for sure and [we’re] looking to just carry that on.”

Walters is considered by many as the best closer in college baseball with 11 saves on the season.

The Hurricanes are stellar at home this season posting a 28-5 record. The friendly confines of Mark Light Field should be an advantage for the Hurricanes regardless of last year's result.

“We love playing here," Levenson said. "We love playing in front of our fans. We have a lot of confidence playing here and it’s always great playing here in our home dugout, too…It’s just the comfortableness of just everything here. It’s great being in Miami. It’s going to give us good energy.”

Miami opens its NCAA Tournament against Maine Friday at 7 PM. Texas and Louisiana open their regional in Coral Gables at 3 PM Friday.

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