Inexperienced but ‘fired-up’ Hurricanes ready to rip through NCAA baseball tournament
For a University of Miami baseball program with four national titles, an NCAA-record 30 regional championships and until 2017 a national-record 44 consecutive NCAA tournament berths, it’s almost surreal to ponder this fact: Not one of the Miami Hurricanes has played in the NCAA tournament.
Never have two years felt so painfully long — except, perhaps, to Central Michigan, the Hurricanes’ first-round opponent at 8 p.m. Friday (ESPN3) in the Starkville Regional in Mississippi. It has been 24 years since the Chippewas played in the NCAA tournament.
“It’s our job to make sure they understand what they’re in store for,’’ UM first-year head coach Gino DiMare told the Miami Herald. “I’ve been to 12 College World Series [as a UM player and assistant coach], and I think [pitching coach] J.D. Arteaga has been to 10. That’s 22 between the two of us.
“Look, you can play it both ways. You can say they haven’t had that experience so it’s a tough thing. Everyone loves experience. Or you can look at it from the standpoint that these guys are hungry. It’s their first time being in it so they’re fired up.’’
The No. 2 regional seed Hurricanes (39-18, 18-12 Atlantic Coast Conference), ranked 17th by D1Baseball, 19th by Baseball America and 20th in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll, will face a fourth-seeded Chippewas team (46-12, 22-5 Mid-American Conference) that has won 18 games in a row.
The last time Central Michigan lost was on April 23 to NCAA Division II Davenport.
The other two teams at Starkville: No. 1 regional seed (and No. 6 national seed) host Mississippi State (46-13, 20-10 Southeastern Conference), which is ranked as high as No. 3 and has the nation’s fourth-best RPI; and third-seeded Southern (32-22, 18-6 Southwestern Athletic Conference).
CMU’s right-handed, 6-4, 234-pound senior ace Pat Leatherman (10-1, 2.56 ERA) will start for the Chippewas. DiMare did not disclose his starter during a news conference Thursday in Starkville. UM announced Thursday night that right-handed sophomore Chris McMahon (3-2, 3.70) would start Friday.
The double-elimination tournament is one of 16 nationwide first-round regionals. The 16 winners will then advance to the next round, called the super regionals, and play next weekend in a best-of-3-game series. From there, the eight still standing advance to the Holy Grail of college baseball: the College World Series, from June 15-25/26 in Omaha, Nebraska.
Miami has competed in 25 College World Series, most recently in 2016.
“I don’t recall any NCAA tournament I ever walked away from saying, ‘Jeez, that team wasn’t very good,’’ DiMare, who has no seniors on his squad, told reporters Thursday. “I don’t care if you’re a 4 seed or 1 seed. Some are better than others. I get it. But either you had a great season if you’re at this position right now, or you’re very, very hot.
“...We need to be ready for Central Michigan ... because if we’re not, we might not even play Mississippi State. That’s been told to them a number of times.’’
The winner of Miami-Central Michigan will face the winner of Friday’s 1 p.m. Mississippi State-Southern game in the winner’s bracket at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Miami-Central Michigan loser will play at 1 p.m. Saturday.
“It’s just the same plan we’ve gone with the whole season,’’ catcher Michael Amditis said Thursday. “Going hard every game, playing every game like it’s our last — our biggest game of the year. That’s been our motto.’’
Alex Toral, who is sixth in the nation with 22 home runs, said he was pumped to play on the road.
“It’s always cool to see a different team’s atmosphere,’’ Toral, a 6-1, 220-pound left-handed sophomore said, noting that the Canes had “a little chip on our shoulders’’ after not being chosen to host a regional. “We lost some tough games that we should have won. We play with a high energy and a lot of emotion in our bodies.
“Obviously I’m happy to be the team to get us back into a regional. But that’s not our ultimate goal. We want to win Omaha.’’
Evan McKendry (6-2, 4.69 ERA), a right-handed junior who graduated from North Broward Prep and is from Pembroke Pines, is one of UM’s weekend pitchers who could also see action this weekend.
“I grew up around [Miami’s Mark Light Field] and I’ve been coming to games since I was a little kid,’’ McKendry said. “So, coming here I knew what it was like. I knew every year Miami was in the postseason, Miami was playing for a national championship. So, these past two years not taking the team where we should be was definitely taking a toll on all of us. But we all know what Miami is and what it stands for so we’re ready to take us back where we belong.’’
This story was originally published May 30, 2019 at 4:11 PM.