Baseball Ready for Midweek Meeting vs. FAU
Miami (3-0, 0-0 ACC) vs. FAU (3-0, 0-0 C-USA)
Roster | Coaches | Schedule | Game Notes
Feb. 20, 2018 | 6 p.m.
Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field | Coral Gables, Fla. | Buy Tickets| Directions
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – After a three-game sweep of Rutgers to open the 2019 season, the University of Miami baseball program will wrap up a four-game homestand with a midweek game against FAU. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday from Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.
All home games this season will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra and all baseball games, home and away, can be heard on WVUM 90.5 FM and WVUM.org.
Freshman right-hander Slade Cecconi (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will make his first collegiate start and is set to oppose FAU freshman LHP Hunter Cooley (1-0, 0.00 ERA). Cecconi, who is one of the top freshmen in the country, made his Hurricanes debut tossing two scoreless innings of relief against Rutgers on Saturday, Feb. 16.
Miami’s offense enters Wednesday’s game off a prolific weekend. The Hurricanes set a record for runs scored on opening night against a Division I opponent, beating Rutgers 19-3. Overall, the Canes scored 35 runs over 24 innings and did most of their damage in bunches, as Miami scored multiple runs in eight of 12 innings in which they pushed a runner across home plate.
Sophomore shortstop Freddy Zamora was outstanding on opening weekend, hitting .417 (5-12) with two doubles, a home run and four RBI, and fellow sophomore Alex Toral belted two home runs over three games. But it was a pair of freshmen who showed they could be big contributors to the Miami offense with their performances against Rutgers.
Second baseman Anthony Vilar led the Hurricanes with a .636 average (7-for-11) with eight runs scored, seven hits, a team-best four doubles and four RBI. Fellow freshman Adrian Del Castillo tied for the team lead with seven hits, ripped a pair of doubles and drove in a team-leading seven runs while scoring four times and hitting .467 (7-15) over the three-game set.
Miami added a recruiting class ranked eighth by D1Baseball and No. 10 nationwide by Baseball America to a group of 18 returning letterwinners from a 2018 team that finished 28-26 overall and 16-13 in ACC play.
Three members of Miami’s recruiting class were selected in the 2018 MLB First-Year Player Draft;Del Castillo(36th round, White Sox), Vilar (37th round, Cubs) and Cecconi (38th round, Orioles) all spurned professional overtures for a career at Miami after being selected in the 2018 MLB Draft.
Cecconi (#2), Del Castillo (#8) and Vilar (#48) were among the Top 50 Impact Freshmen in the ACC according to D1Baseball. Freshman LHP/UT JP Gates was ranked 10th among ACC freshmen. Baseball America rated Cecconi (No. 12), Gates (No. 16) and Del Castillo (No. 31) among the top 50 freshmen nationally.
The Hurricanes’ home schedule also includes series with Georgia Tech (March 8-10), NC State (March 22-24), Florida State (April 5-7), Virginia Tech (April 26-28) and Duke (May 16-18), among others.
Miami’s road schedule includes trips to Florida (Feb. 22-24), North Carolina (March 15-17), Pittsburgh (March 29-31), Virginia (April 12-14), Louisville (April 18-20) and Wake Forest (May 10-12).
