Going... going... sold out! No. 1 Canes, No. 2 Gators to meet at UM in ‘bitter rivalry’
Nothing like a sold-out Miami Hurricanes-Florida Gators baseball series to get those orange and green — or orange and blue — juices flowing.
Flowing might be an understatement. Think white-water thrill ride.
“It’s a bitter rival, there’s no doubt,’’ UM coach Gino DiMare said Wednesday night after the Canes defeated Kent State 12-0 and finally could look forward to the weekend against the Gators.
No. 1 University of Miami (4-0) will face No. 2 University of Florida (5-0) at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday at Alex Rodriguez Park’s Mark Light Field. And unless you’re a UM student and arrive early, the only way to obtain tickets is to find them on the secondary market.
According to UM, this is the first time since the 2003 series against Florida State that the Hurricanes have sold out all three games at the Light.
Anyone who knows anything about UM and UF baseball knows that the Gators have ruled for the past decade. UM leads the series, dating to 1940, 130-124-1. But since 2010, the Canes have gone 8-28 against the Gators. Since 2016, the last season four-time national champion Miami played in the College World Series, UM has gone 3-9 against UF.
“We were dominating for many years, but they’ve gotten the better of us,’’ DiMare said. “Look, they’ve gotten the better of a lot of people... But I think the gap has closed. It’s closed. It’s not the same as it once was. ...The playing field is a little bit more even now.’’
Right-handed Fifth-year senior Brian Van Belle (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will start on the mound Friday for the Canes, with right-handed junior Tommy Mace (1-0, 3.00) on the hill for the Gators.
UM is led by preseason All-American and Golden Spikes Award candidate Adrian Del Castillo, a sophomore catcher hitting .583 with two home runs and 8 RBI. He is one of several heavy hitters in the Canes lineup.
UF senior infielder Kirby McMullen is hitting .583 with an .833 slugging percentage.
“Our end goal is to win a championship here,’’ DiMare said . “I told them, ‘It’s a nice thing to be talking about that one of the polls has up there. But I think it’s June 24th or June 25th, whatever that final day is, that’s the poll [in which] you want to be [No. 1] at the end — where if you’re No. 1, you’re 1 in all of them.
“There’s no doubt we’re not going to duck away from this whole thing this weekend.”
UM outfielder Tony Jenkins, hitting .500 after Wednesday’s 4-RBI night, was asked to describe the atmosphere of a UF-UM series. “It’s going to be crazy,’’ he said. “The fans, I can’t describe playing in this atmosphere. It’s unbelievable. I’m just excited [and] ready to go.’’
This story was originally published February 20, 2020 at 4:51 PM.
