Miami closer Andrew Walters discusses win over N.C. State in 2023 ACC Tournament

The Miami Hurricanes advanced to the 2023 ACC Tournament semifinals on Thursday night. They punched their tickets to the semis, thanks in large part to an excellent performance by first team All-ACC closer Andrew Walters. He got his 24th career save on Thursday night against N.C. State, ranking him 6th in Hurricanes’ program history. He’s just behind Danny Graves, who ranks fifth in program history with 29 saves. Following his team’s 4-2 win over the Wolfpack, Walters took the time to speak with the ACC Network broadcast crew.

He talked about the gameplan going into the game against N.C. State. “Just go right after ’em. That’s been my gameplan the entire time. I ain’t trying to win, I’m going after guys making them swing the bat and get the job done for my team,” the Miami closer said on Thursday evening.

After the Virginia series, it seems like Miami has turned into a different team. What does he think changed? “We just had to adjust to play on the road. It was one of those things we were struggling with. And we honestly had to adjust to play on the road. The traveling. The downtime. We put it together on the past few road trips and we got it done,” Walters said.

Has that been the difference maker for them? “Absolutely. Playing on the road is something we need to do. Obviously, we love playing at home. We take advantage of that coming in, winning these last couple of series in the ACC Tournament is huge for us,” Walters said.

Their next game will be against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons–the top ranked team in all of college baseball. He spoke about his team’s mindset heading into that game. He said that his team won’t change their approach one bit. “I mean, honestly, we’re just playing the same baseball we’ve always played. No opponent really keeps our frame of mind any different. So, we’re going after them the way we take every game,” the Hurricanes’ star closer said.

Walters got the save on Thursday night. He only allowed one hit and fired three strikeouts in 2.1 innings of work. The save for Walters was his 10th of the 2023 campaign. He threw some serious heat to finish the game off–one that was 96 mph. Pitcher Rafe Schlesinger got the win for Miami to move his record to 3-1 this year.