NCAA changes game time for Miami baseball regional as Hurricanes brace for storm
Hurricane season began Wednesday.
Hurricanes season — postseason, that is — begins Friday for the University of Miami baseball program.
The two are expected to collide with severe thunderstorms and 30-plus-mile-an-hour wind gusts, which is why the NCAA has changed the Coral Gables Regional game time of Miami vs. Canisius College to 10 a.m. (ESPN+). It was originally scheduled for noon.
After the No. 6 national seed Hurricanes (39-18) finish their opening round of the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament against No. 4 regional seed Canisius (29-23), No. 2 seed Arizona (37-23) will play No. 3 seed Ole Miss (32-22) 55 minutes later.
The Arizona-Ole Miss game originally was scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday.
It has been six long years since four-time national champion Miami has hosted a regional, and six years since the Canes have advanced to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. So, what’s a little rain?
“I know there’s going to be some weather,’’ UM coach Gino DiMare told Hurricane Hotline this week of the double-elimination tournament, which runs through Sunday but could extend early into the week if necessary. The NCAA prohibits games from starting after 11 p.m. “Unfortunately we have this storm coming around… Whatever happens, I hope our fans can handle it and be able to be out there for us. Home field advantage is big. I’m hoping we get a great turnout for the weekend, even with the weather.”
That could be tough, as the National Weather Service had forecast the chance of precipitation at 90 percent, with wind gusts as high as 31 miles an hour, when Arizona meets Ole Miss. Saturday’s forecast was also 90-percent rain, with gusts “as high as 38 mph.”
The winner of each of the 16 double-elimination regionals throughout the country will advance to eight two-team super regionals June 10-13. UM, which is an astounding 88-17 (.838) in regionals played in Coral Gables, would host again if it wins this weekend. The eight super regional winners in their best-of-three series earn berths in the College World Series that begins June 17.
“The biggest thing, and coach has been talking about it, is just focusing on the next game,’’ said UM catcher Maxwell Romero, who played last year in the College World Series for Vanderbilt. “You’ll start seeing sleeper teams come out on top in the regionals because the big teams are thinking about going to Omaha. We’ve got to worry about Friday. That’s the biggest game of the year.’’
The Hurricanes have advanced to the College World Series all seven previous years they were named a national seed (1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2015 and 2016), winning titles in ‘99 and ‘01 to add to their first two in 1982 and ‘85. They’ve had an excellent season, leading the nation with 13 top-25 victories and being one of only four Power-5 programs with 20 conference (ACC) wins. Yet despite defeating Notre Dame in a crucial series win to end the regular season, UM has slumped with six losses in its past eight games, including last week’s ACC Tournament losses of 9-6 to N.C. State and 16-3 to Wake Forest.
“We’re still confident,’’ UM ace and first-team All-ACC pitcher Carson Palmquist said. “We know what we can do and what we’ve done all year. It’s just been a tough patch, but we’ll get through it and be right back on top.’’
Palmquist said Thursday that he “got goosebumps” walking into the ballpark “seeing all the NCAA stuff everywhere. It was just the coolest experience... It’s awesome.’’
Starting pitcher
As of Thursday evening, DiMare had not disclosed his starting pitcher for Friday and said earlier he would not name him “until we know they’re ready to announce theirs.’’
At 2 p.m., Canisius coach Matt Mazurek said he would start either right-handed sophomore Matt Duffy (8-2, 3.67 ERA) or left-handed junior Chris Poulett (8-2, 4.12).
“We just want to make sure which one is feeling better than the other and we’ll make that decision tonight,’’ Mazurek said.
Miami pitching has faltered recently. Palmquist (9-4, 3.09), a third-year left-handed sophomore, has been UM’s Friday night starter. He struggled in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament opener last week against N.C. State, lasting only 3 2/3 innings in a 9-6 UM loss.
No. 2 UM pitcher Karson Ligon (6-6, 4.50), a right-handed freshman, has lost three games in a row, including UM’s last game against Wake Forest, when he was replaced after two innings. Thus, both pitchers should be fresh for the tournament.
Miami’s usual No. 3 starter is right-handed sophomore Alejandro Rosario (2-3, 7.57). It’s No. 4, mid-week starter: right-handed third-year sophomore Jake Garland (6-2, 3.99).
Turns out the Canisius Golden Griffins from Buffalo, New York, are the only team in UM’s regional to have won their last game — six consecutive victories, in fact, which includes the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) championship that brought them an automatic regional berth.
Arizona of the Pac-10 is 2-5 in its past seven games. And Ole Miss of the Southeastern Conference had a seven-game winning streak before losing its last three of four.
UM is 28-8 at home. Canisius is 14-16 on the road.
“We can’t let those one or two games in the ACC tournament define our season, define what’s moving forward,’’ DiMare said. “There are a lot of ebbs and flows to baseball. My goodness, they’re all over the place.
“We kind of went through it a little early. We got beat up really bad against Clemson, 20-5 [on March 20th]. Then we won 14 games in a row, and then went through some struggles as well,’’ the coach said of a four-game losing streak before a six-game winning streak that preceded the recent slump. “You gotta battle through it mentally and make sure your mind is in the right place. Everybody is 0-0 now. Everybody is in the same place.
“They should be as excited as they possibly could be in a situation like this, playing in front of their family, friends and home fans. It’s a great opportunity we have in front of us. Everybody hopefully should be in a good state of mind.”
Now, if only the weather cooperates.
This story was originally published June 2, 2022 at 12:43 PM.
