Canes Open ACC Tourney Strong, Slam Clemson

The #3 Miami Hurricanes (44-8) downed the Clemson Tigers Wednesday afternoon in Jacksonville in the first game of the ACC Tournament. They defeated the Tigers 7-1 after another overpowering performance by freshman pitcher Chris Hernandez. Hernandez, 11-0 on the season, gave up just 4 hits in 8 innings, and struck out 10. This looks like a future MLB star, folks. Also notable were the performances of Mark Sobolewski, Ryan Jackson, and Joey Terdoslavich. The Canes play the Ramblin' Wreck of Georgia Tech (who still calls them that?) at 5 p.m. today.

I have mixed feelings about how important this Tournament is. On the one hand, winning it gets you a trophy, but not really the one you are striving for. Trying too hard in this tourney, you may get one of the critical pieces to your CWS puzzle unnecessarily injured. On the other hand, in the sense of being able to build momentum going into the regionals and supers, winning this tourney would be nice. Getting a good head of steam going into the "real" post-season really puts a team a step ahead in the race for the grandest prize of them all.