CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Alex Stone hit a two-run home run to left-center field in the bottom of the eighth Saturday night and the blast carried Duke to an 8-2 win over Miami in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament.
The win sends sixth-seeded Duke to Sunday’s conference championship game against No 5-seed Florida State. Miami was attempting to become the first 11th seed to reach the ACC championship game since 2017.
Stone, a right-handed, second-team All-ACC catcher, crushed a 2-2 slider with one out and one off lefty Myles Caba to give Duke its first lead of the game. Later, after Caba was lifted, Devin Obee rocked a two-run homer off Brandon Olivera that made for a 6-2 Duke lead. The blast was measured at 455 feet. Obee finished batting 2 for 3.
Daniel Cuvet’s two-run home run in the top of the fourth inning gave Miami a 2-0 lead before Duke rallied to score a run each in the fifth and seventh to set up Stone’s heroics.