Baseball Welcomes Jackson State for Midweek Series
Miami (12-3, 0-0 ACC) vs. Jackson State (6-11, 1-2 SWAC)
Roster | Coaches | Schedule | Game Notes
March 11-12, 2019 | 6 p.m. | 6 p.m.
Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field | Coral Gables, Fla. | Buy Tickets | Directions
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – After a series victory over Georgia Tech, the University of Miami baseball program will wrap up a nine-game homestand with a midweek series against Jackson State.
The Hurricanes welcome the Tigers for a pair of games at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. on both Tuesday and Wednesday.
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.
Miami will start junior RHP Tyler Keysor on Tuesday opposite Jackson State junior right-hander Francisco Urena. Keysor is 2-0 with a 7.88 ERA, throwing 8.0 innings over six relief appearances in 2019.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Slade Cecconi will take the mound on Wednesday for the Hurricanes and he is 2-0 with a 2.65 ERA after four appearances (three starts).
The Hurricanes enter the week with the reigning ACC Player of the Week, as Freddy Zamora was bestowed the honor after an outstanding showing against Georgia Tech over the weekend.
The sophomore shortstop was dominant at the plate in keying the Hurricanes to a 3-1 week and a 2-1 start to ACC play. After helping Miami beat Appalachian State on Wednesday, Zamora had three hits, including two doubles, in the series opener against Georgia Tech on Friday. The sophomore shortstop hit a walk-off two-run homer on Saturday night that capped another three-hit night and evened the series with Georgia Tech.
On Sunday, he tied the game with a two-run shot in the first inning that sparked a 9-6 Miami win over the Yellow Jackets and secured a series victory.
Zamora finished the Georgia Tech series 7-for-13 (.538) with two doubles, two homers, four runs scored, four RBI, an intentional walk and a stolen base.
Including Zamora’s two home runs, Miami clubbed six homers in the Georgia Tech series to run its season tally up to 23 and tie the team total from a year ago after just 15 games in 2019.
Alex Toral is second in the ACC with a team-best eight home runs, while Raymond Gil is second on the team and tied for third in the conference with five homers. Freshman standout Adrian Del Castillo has hit safely in all 15 games this season, tying Esteban Tregallo’s 15-game streak to begin his Miami career in 2013.
The Hurricanes enter the weekend with an ACC-best .317 team batting average, while Miami’s 169 hits are the most in the ACC. Miami is second in the ACC in doubles (35), slugging (.523) and on-base percentage (.409) and tied for third in runs (121).
After starting the season 12-3, head coach Gino DiMare has the most wins over the first 15 games by a first-year head coach in UM history.
Perry Moss (’55) and Jim Morris (’94) both won 11 of their first 15 games in their debut seasons at Miami. Whitey Campbell (’58) and Ron Fraser (’63) went 10-5 over the first 15 games of their first season at the helm of the program.
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 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 North Carolina (March 15-17), Pittsburgh (March 29-31), Virginia (April 12-14), Louisville (April 18-20) and Wake Forest (May 10-12).
