Canes stay alive in NCAA Regional; must beat Mississippi St. twice to advance
The difference between the Miami Hurricanes and the Central Michigan Chippewas on Sunday afternoon was akin to the length of one of Alex Toral’s homers.
In other words, it wasn’t close.
The second-seeded Hurricanes never trailed on Sunday, scoring three runs in the third and piling on from there to oust the third-seeded Chippewas from the double-elimination tournament, 18-3.
Miami (41-19) avenged an embarrassing 6-5 loss to Central Michigan on Friday night. The Chippewas (47-14), who play with demonstrable and endless energy, rallied from a 4-0 deficit in Friday’s game, winning their 19th consecutive game. Their use of props in the dugout – Santa and Yoda masks, for example – did not sit well with the Hurricanes, who pounded them into submission on Sunday.
The Hurricanes advanced to the finals in Starkville, where they would need to beat fifth-ranked, top-seeded and host Mississippi State (48-13) twice – Sunday night and again on Monday -- to advance to the super regionals.
Among the highlights for Miami on Sunday were two homers by Toral, giving him 24 this season. The only other Canes sluggers to hit that many in one season are Phil Lane (25) and Yonder Alonso (24). Toral passed Pat Burrell, who hit 23 in 1996, two years before he was the first overall pick in the MLB Draft.
“Our (home) park is not suited for a left-handed hitter (such as Toral),” Canes coach Gino DiMare said. “But he’s swinging the bat like we thought he would when we got him. I’d say he’s as hot any seven-hole hitter in the country.”
Indeed, Toral went 4-for-5 with four runs scored and four RBIs on Sunday.
“Toral just rakes – I’ve been playing with that guy since (before) high school (Archbishop McCarthy),” said Canes starting pitcher Brian Van Belle, who earned the win on Sunday. “As an eighth-grader, he would hit (home runs) on top of the school.”
But it wasn’t just Toral who was raking on Sunday. Miami bludgeoned Central Michigan with six total home runs, including shots by Gabe Rivera, Anthony Vilar, Adrian Del Castillo and Raymond Gil.
Van Belle (10-2) was outstanding. Not only did he keep the Chippewas in check, but he also saved Miami’s bullpen for Mississippi State by going eight innings. He threw a season high 115 pitches.
DiMare was able to take several starters out in the middle of the game. With the temperatures hovering in the 90s, DiMare rested catcher Michael Amditis, Jordan Lala, Rivera and Gil.
Next up is Mississippi State and an expected capacity crowd of 15,000-plus. The Bulldogs’ Duty Noble Field is the largest on-campus baseball stadium in the country.
“You couldn’t draw it up better for us,” DiMare said when asked about resting players for Sunday night. “We were able to get some guys out of the game and get them in the air conditioning. Now we get the opportunity to play in this atmosphere (against Mississippi State).
“We will be playing in one of the toughest environments for a visiting team. This will be by far the most people we’ve played in front of, and we’re going to grow up really quick.”
Van Belle said half the Canes team went to Saturday night’s game between Central Michigan and Mississippi State.
“The atmosphere is great – I’ve never seen anything like it other than at a major-league stadium,” Van Belle said. “The fans here are kind and nice.”
Added DiMare: “They were very friendly with our players last night. … They might not be as friendly in a few hours.”
This story was originally published June 2, 2019 at 7:19 PM.