Miami baseball (22 HRs this season) wins seventh in row after DiMare thrown out of game
More than a week ago, the Miami Hurricanes opened the season in Coral Gables precariously with a loss to cold-weather, indoor-limited Penn State.
Since then, the hard-hitting Canes have been on a tear, winning their seventh consecutive game 20-2 Sunday over Dartmouth for their first series sweep of 2023 — and adding some spice in the process.
Not only did Miami (7-1) blast its 20th, 21st and 22nd home runs of the season in a 21-hit performance at Mark Light Field, Hurricanes coach Gino DiMare was thrown out of the game for the first time in his five-season head-coaching career. Per NCAA rules, DiMare could face a potential suspension for the next game against FAU.
A visibly angry DiMare shared some words with third base umpire Mike Jarboe, who used a stopwatch to ensure that a new NCAA rule that limits pitchers and batters between pitches is enforced. Within the final 10 seconds of a 30-second span, the batter must be in the box and have his attention on the pitcher or an automatic strike is called.
In UM’s case, No. 5 hitter Zach Levenson, who entered the game with a team-high .545 batting average, apparently did not have his full attention on the pitcher when the 10 seconds had passed. Thus, with two strikes and two outs in the fourth inning, UM players were stranded on first and third when Jarboe called the strike and DiMare was ultimately thrown out.
The Canes were leading 4-2 at that point, but busted the game open afterward with three runs in the fifth and five in the sixth.
“It’s a 10-second violation on the hitter,’’ DiMare said after the game. “If I were to poll a lot of coaches out there around the country, they’re not big fans of it. ...This ended an inning where we had first and third and two outs so it was a big inning at the time. The game wasn’t out of reach at the time. But he’s enforcing the rule. It’s not the umpire’s fault. Now, having said that, I can’t see it. I’m not clocking it. He’s clocking it. So we gotta trust that he’s doing a fair job of it.
“I can tell you when I went into the locker room after the game, I was clocking their pitchers [from the TV] and their pitchers were very, very close to 20 seconds with the guy at second base, and he was getting multiple signs. It’s just too quick. By the time you’re done giving signs to the hitter — and hitters try to gather themselves, they’re trying to breathe, they’re trying to relax, and they get into the box.
“It’s just not a good rule for baseball. But it is a rule that we have to follow. I told [the players], ‘We’re going to have to learn to deal with it.’ We knew the rule was in place. This is the first time it’s affected our team. Hopefully it won’t happen again. I’ve never been throw out of the game.”
Homer hitters
Miami began the weekend third nationally with 15 home runs. In addition to the three the Canes hit Sunday, they hit two Friday in the series opener, another two Saturday and the three Sunday.
UM’s homers were hit by Dorian Gonzalez, Dominic Pitelli and Jason Torres. Torres’ was a three-run, seventh-inning blast to left field for the first college hit of his career. At Miami Springs High, Torres broke UM great Yasmani Grandal’s high school home run record with 25 homers over his career.
“We hit a lot of balls hard,’’ DiMare said. “Our outs were hard. All series, all weekend, [Dartmouth] made some really good plays in the outfield. It’s great for us. [But] we’re going to see better pitching...ahead of us in the [Atlantic Coast Conference]. But hitting is a confidence thing and it’s a contagious thing, too. So it’s a good thing to have right now as we move forward.
Canes starter Alejandro Rosario allowed two earned runs on three hits for his first win of the season. He walked one and struck out seven. Dartmouth (0-3) failed to register a hit after the third inning.
UM’s game at Boca Raton’s FAU (6-1) has a 6:30 p.m. first pitch. The Canes then head to Gainesville over the weekend to face nemesis Florida (7-1) for a three-game series.
“It’s always exciting for us,’’ said Pitelli about road trips. “We love to get on the road and try to beat people in their own home.’’
This story was originally published February 26, 2023 at 4:16 PM.
