After 8-1 start to season, Miami Hurricanes now get first big test in Florida Gators
The Miami Hurricanes baseball team probably couldn’t have envisioned a better start to the season.
A roster filled with 28 new faces — 14 freshmen and 14 transfers — has meshed together seamlessly. The pitching has been lights out. The lineup has depth, with most of its main contributors clicking early and the Hurricanes putting up crooked numbers more often than not.
All together, it has resulted in an 8-1 start to the season, with the lone blemish a 2-1 midweek loss to Florida Atlantic on Feb. 18.
“We’ve started off the season great,” said junior second baseman Dorian Gonzalez. “We’re clicking on all sides of the ball.”
Will this early success continue as the schedule gets more difficult? We’re about to find out.
After cruising to big wins in their first two weekend series against Niagara and Princeton, the Hurricanes have their first big test of the season this weekend when they travel to Gainesville to play the Florida Gators, who are undefeated at 9-0 and ranked No. 8 nationally by D1Baseball.
“It’s fun,” third baseman Daniel Cuvet said. “It always gets the adrenaline going and the nerves up. We’ve got to stay focused, and we’ve got to pretend like we’re facing a faceless opponent. That’s kind of the mindset we’ve got to have.”
Miami will enter the series with confidence after its strong start to the season.
On the mound, the Hurricanes’ pitching staff has combined for a 1.50 ERA and 111 strikeouts over 78 innings. Miami’s projected weekend rotation of Nick Robert, Griffin Hugus and Brian Walters has a combined 1.09 ERA with 51 strikeouts against eight walks over 33 innings.
At the plate, the Hurricanes are collectively hitting .303 and have scored 86 runs through nine games. six regulars in the lineup are hitting at least .321 in shortstop Jake Ogden (.444), outfielder Max Galvin (.394), catcher Tanner Smith (.370), Gonzalez (.345), designated hitter Bobby Marsh (.333) and Cuvet (.321).
Marsh leads the team with 19 RBI, and six of his 10 hits have gone for extra bases.
Miami is also a perfect 16 for 16 on stolen bases.
“Right now, everything seems to be working,” Cuvet said. “We can put guys wherever we want [in the lineup], and we know they’re going to hit.”
That said, Miami’s going to be tested this weekend against the Gators, who have outscored their opponents (weekend series against Air Force and Dayton, plus midweek wins over Jacksonville, Stetson and North Florida) 87-20, have slugged 15 home runs and have seven players with at least 30 plate appearances hitting at least .343.
“Florida is a great program,” Hurricanes coach J.D. Arteaga said. “It’s the type of program that you have to beat to get to you want to be. ... They’re very talented and very good and well coached. It’s a tough place to play, so it’s a great challenge and to me a great opportunity to show the country what we’re all about.”
For the Hurricanes, that means not putting extra pressure on themselves just because of the magnitude of the series. They want to stick with what has worked and hope the results will show.
“It’s just another at bat. It’s just another game,” said Galvin, who has safely reached base in all nine games so far this season. “If they throw a pitch over the plate, it’s gonna get hammered.”
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