Storylines at Play During This Weekend's Regional

June 2, 2011

Regional Preview | Postseason Media Supplement | NCAA Baseball Bracket | Ticket Information

A few storylines heading into this weekend’s baseball regional in Gainesville…

Back to McKethan
While Miami owns a comfortable 123-102-1 all-time series lead against Florida, the Gators have certainly had the upper hand as of late having won nine of the last 10 meetings (and seven straight at McKethan Stadium) coming into play this weekend.

But, as one-sided as the recent series appears on the surface, there’s more to the story…. especially over the last few seasons.

You have to go back a few years to find a Canes team that was fully manned going into a series or regional in Gainesville.

Earlier this year, Miami was without head coach Jim Morris all weekend as the skipper was recovering from gall bladder surgery, while middle-of-the-lineup guys Nathan Melendres and Chris Pelaez were both very limited.

A year ago around this time, the Canes were without the services of Harold Martinez during the super regionals, as the sluggers leg injury was so severe he watched UM’s last game from the hospital.

Sure, those can just be excuses. Florida proved to be the better team both times. But this weekend, Morris, Melendres and Martinez are healthy and the Canes’ young hurlers have really grown into their roles.

And don’t forget, Miami swept the Gators in Gainesville as recently as the 2009 regular season. So while UF has had the upper hand lately, it wasn’t that long ago the Canes enjoyed success here.

Road Regional
While it’s obvious the easier path to Omaha is hosting regionals and super regionals, Jim Morris has twice led Miami to the College World Series by winning on the road. In 2006, Miami made it to Rosenblatt after winning at Nebraska (regional) and Mississippi (super regional).

A decade earlier and before super regionals came into play, the Canes won the Austin Regional to advance to Omaha, where they would eventually fall to LSU in one of the more memorable College World Series to date.

And while the Hurricanes didn’t make it to the College World Series in 2002, they did win the Gainesville Regional only to fall a few runs short against South Carolina in the Columbia Super Regional the following weekend.

It’s not easy, but it’s been done before.

Pitch…
Typically, teams with the best and deepest pitching staffs advance in the postseason. If that’s going to be the case this weekend in Gainesville, Miami and Florida have the clear edge.

Both boast four formidable starters. Florida has Hudson Randall (9-3, 2.25), Karsten Whitson (7-0, 2.53), Brian Johnson (8-3, 3.66) and Alex Panteliodis (5-2, 4.11) while Miami has Eric Whaley (7-5, 2.55), Steven Ewing (7-2, 2.77), E.J. Encinosa (5-5, 2.90) and Bryan Radziewski (9-2, 3.30).

Both have three elite relievers – the Gators with Austin Maddox (2-0, 0.74), Steven Rodriguez (3-1, 1.53) and Nick Maronde (0-0, 1.72) and the Canes with Sam Robinson (1-1, 1.95), Daniel Miranda (3-1, 2.79) and Travis Miller (2-1, 2.70).

While it can be argued that both Jacksonville and Manhattan have the line-ups to compete, neither team boasts the quality depth from the pitching staff that UF and UM boast.

And Catch
Last year, Miami catcher Yasmani Grandal was a national player of the year finalist and the clear-cut top offensive threat in both the Coral Gables Regional and Gainesville Super Regional.

This year, it’s another catcher getting all the attention as Florida’s Mike Zunino comes into the weekend hitting .367 with 15 homers and 59 RBI, while slugging an impressive .656 on the year.

The story has changed entirely for Miami behind the plate, as junior David Villasuso (.217, 12 hits) and freshmen Shane Rowland (.175, 20 hits) and Corey Janson (.222, two hits) haven’t come close to matching Grandal’s production (.401, 89 hits) at the plate this season.

This weekend, the Canes will likely use Rowland most of the time with Janson seeing a few at-bats against lefties (Villasuso is out for the season with a hand injury). You have to think at some point, one of both of Miami’s young backstops will play a key role in a big moment this weekend.