No. 1 Miami swept by No. 2 Florida after another close loss. ‘We’ve got a long way to go’
Gino DiMare only managed two words before letting out a long sigh after he climbed out of the Miami Hurricanes’ somber clubhouse following another loss to the Florida Gators.
“Disappointing,” the coach said, “obviously.”
It was the feeling he and Miami (4-3) had after every game throughout their three-game weekend series against Florida. The Hurricanes entered the weekend as the No. 1 team in the country. The Gators entered the weekend No. 2. In every one of the three games between the two in Coral Gables, Miami had a chance to tie the game on the final hitter of the game. In every game, the Hurricanes came up short, dropping the finale of the three-game set to the Gators, 5-3, at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field on Sunday.
On Friday, Florida (8-0) won in 11 innings. On Saturday, it won in 10. To finish off the sweep, Miami left the potential tying run at the plate when outfielder Tony Jenkins struck out in the bottom of the ninth with a runner on first after he hit a towering foul ball wide of the left-field foul pole.
“The bottom line is they got a lot of hits when they needed them. We didn’t,” DiMare said. “The bottom is line is we’ve got a long way to go. Thank God it’s early in the season. We need to use this as a learning lesson, see the things we need to work on and we’ve got a lot of things we need to work on.”
Almonst nothing separated the Hurricanes and Gators throughout the weekend in South Florida. Florida won by a single run in the 11th inning Friday, then grabbed another extra-innings win Saturday after coming through with the game-tying hit in the ninth while down to its last strike. Even after the Gators scored five in the top of the 10th, Miami brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the inning.
On Sunday, the Hurricanes fell just short again. Florida jumped out to an early 3-0 lead against start right-handed pitcher Slade Cecconi in the first two innings and Miami didn’t deliver a significant counterpunch until the eighth, when infielder Raymond Gil belted a two-run homer to cut the Gators’ lead to 4-3. The Gators set down six of the next seven hitters, though, to return to Gainesville as the unquestioned top team in Florida — and perhaps the country.
“It’s always disappointing to get swept, especially at home,” Gil said. “We felt like each game, it could’ve gone either way. We just didn’t get the clutch hit or make a play, or put somebody away at the right moment and they did, so we’ve got to build on that and we’ve got a long season.”
The weekend series was touted as a meeting between the two best teams in the country. All three games were sold out by Thursday and 3,554 packed into the stadium for the finale Sunday. Every day, Florida, which has played in the College World Series in four of the last five seasons, made fewer costly mistakes in the field and took better advantage of their opportunities at the plate.
Throughout the weekend, Miami’s defense was costly. On Friday, Florida’s only run in regulation was unearned after infielder Anthony Vilar committed a fifth-inning error at shortstop. On Saturday, the Hurricanes committed three errors, including one in the decisive 11th inning.
The Gators took an early lead Sunday with help from the Hurricanes’ defense. Florida two-way player Jordan Butler quickly jumped into scoring position with a one-out double off Cecconi (1-1) in the top of the first and got to third base on a passed ball by star catcher Adrian Del Castillo. Gators outfielder Jacob Young, who finished the series of 7 of 14 with two RBIs, knocked him home with a single to left, and Florida added another run after versatile catcher Nathan Hickey tapped a slow grounder to the shortstop and Vilar couldn’t make the flip to second in time, letting Gators infielder Kris McMullen score from second.
Cecconi, who struck out seven across five innings, allowed just two hits the rest of the way — a pair of solo homers by Florida infielder Josh Rivera and Gators outfielder Jud Fabian.
“Slade’s outing wasn’t up to what we had hoped,” DiMare said.
For the second straight day, Miami’s offensive futility was defined by wasted chances. When the they broke through for their first hit off Florida left-handed pitcher Hunter Barco in the fourth inning, the Hurricanes only managed one run after getting the two leadoff runners on base. They stranded two after Gil drove Jenkins home with a sacrifice fly. An inning later, Miami loaded the bases with two outs before Gil struck out looking to end the frame. The Hurricanes managed only two hits and struck out seven times against Barco (1-0) in 5 1/3 innings, manufacturing threats with the help of two walks and two hit batters.
“I think we’re fine. We just didn’t get that hit this weekend and that happens in baseball,” Gil said. “All our hitters are still confident and we still have belief in every single one of us, so we just have to move on.”
The sweep drops Miami to 8-30 in its last 38 against the in-state rival and provides a measuring stick for the Hurricanes — they’re close to where they want to be, but not quite there.
When Miami returned to the NCAA tournament from a two-year absence in 2019, it did so with a potent offense averaging 7.4 runs per game. After scoring just seven runs and collecting 27 hits in three games against the Gators, Miami is averaging just 6.1 runs per game early this year — too early to make any rash changes.
“Those are our guys. Those are the guys that played last year, that had good years. It’s so early in the year to hit that panic button,” DiMare said. “These are the type of teams you’ve got to beat if you’re going to get to where you want to go and, again, that’s why we need to use this as a measuring stick, learning tool and as the year goes on — it’s early, guys — there’ll be some adjustments. If guys don’t get the job done, the lineup will be changed.
“If they don’t produce, then we will make changes. It’s just too early to start doing that and panicking.”
This story was originally published February 23, 2020 at 3:58 PM.
