Miami baseball falls to South Alabama, ends season with another anemic offensive showing
The Miami Hurricanes will be staying home for the College World Series.
Come to think of it, they’ll also be staying home for the NCAA super regionals.
A day after crushing the No. 15 national seed Florida Gators 19-1 in the Gainesville Regional of the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, the No. 3 regional seed South Alabama Jaguars eliminated No. 2 Miami 7-2 on Sunday afternoon.
The 2021 season is over for the Hurricanes, who finished 33-21 overall and ended with losses in four of their five last games. Winners of national championships in 1982, 1985, 1999 and 2001, Miami has neither advanced out of a regional nor been to the College World Series since 2016.
“Disappointing ending but to be honest it’s one I didn’t not see coming,’’ UM coach Gino DiMare lamented. “We weren’t playing good enough baseball to play at the level you need to at this time of the season. And it just didn’t happen overnight. We were inconsistent most of the year.’’
Lethargic offense
That’s what happens when your bats and run production are on life support. The Canes ended the season with only 15 runs in their final seven games and three extra base hits in the regional. They left 11 on base Sunday and ended the tournament 1 for 20 with runners in scoring position.
South Alabama (35-21) advanced to a 6 p.m. Sunday game against USF. The Jaguars needed to win to force a championship game on Monday. USF only needed to win Sunday to advance to a super regional next weekend.
DiMare, who at that point had not addressed the team after the loss, said he’d wish the departing players well — he didn’t mention them by name — and said he’d “thank them for the sacrifices they make as student athletes.” He also will obviously address the returning players and said he’d review their seasons and give expectations moving forward.
“Most people don’t understand how difficult it is for these guys and the expectations we put on them to uphold this program to where it needs to be. I’ll be very honest with them just like I’m being with you right now.”
Self-reflection
When asked by the Miami Herald what he would say about his own performance, DiMare answered with one word: “Underachieved.’’
The Hurricanes finished with seven hits Sunday, including a pair of solo home runs by Yohandy Morales (fifth inning) and Alex Toral (sixth). But the Canes could not string them together enough to extend their season. And when they did, the Jaguars shut them down.
UM had life with runners on first and second with no outs in the eighth, but reliever Tyler Samaniego, who replaced reliever Jase Dalton after Christian Del Castillo and Ray Gil led off with singles, got Toral to fly out. He then struck out pinch-hitter Carlos Perez and Jose Izarra to end the inning.
Toral, the Atlantic Coast Conference home-run king in 2019 with 24, finished what could be his final season with seven home runs. He entered the game hitting .263.
Toral could also choose to return because of the extra year of eligibility the NCAA afforded players in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was asked what the last four years have meant to him. The 6-1, 235-pound fourth-year junior from Davie nearly broke down in tears.
‘Meant the world’
“It meant the world,’’ Toral said. “If you cut my veins open right now orange and green would spill out. I gave it everything I had since I’ve been here. I don’t know what’s going to happen,’’ he said, his voice cracking, “but today was my last game. I know we left it all out there. And for anybody who wore this uniform before me I gave it everything I had every single day.”
The Jaguars scored four runs in the third inning on home runs by Richard Sorrenti and Michael Sandle, a double by Santi Montiel and RBI-single by Ethan Wilson. All the runs came off UM starter and losing right-handed pitcher Jake Garland (6-4), a second-year freshman who allowed four hits in three innings.
Sandle hit his second solo home run of the game off All-American closer Carson Palmquist to make it 5-2 in the eighth, and two batters later, Kaleb DeLa Torre crushed a two-run homer to ice the victory and send Palmquist to the bench.
South Alabama’s right-handed starter JoJo Booker (8-0) allowed two earned runs on four hits and five walks in 5 1/3 innings for the victory.
Federman shines
UM set-up man Daniel Federman, a fourth-year junior who indicated he is awaiting next year’s draft to determine his future, had a strong relief appearance in allowing only one hit and no runs in 3 1/3 inning.
“I checked out just about everything on my bucket list as a Miami Hurricane except for going to Omaha,’’ Federman said. “I don’t remember 99-percent of my outings and all I remember is today’s game. I gave it my all. I left it all on the field. I tried to do my best and they just got the better of us today.”
Federman said DiMare told them before the game to “play hard, grind it at the plate and on the mound, stay positive, keep fighting and wear this uniform with pride.’’
“I feel like I’ve done that for the past four years and I know all these guys take pride in this uniform,’’ Federman said. “We’ve got a great team, a great culture, a great fan base. This program will be back in Omaha in no time.”
This story was originally published June 6, 2021 at 2:55 PM.
