Canes Ready for Midweek Matchups vs. FGCU
Miami (20-12, 7-8 ACC) vs. Florida Gulf Coast (22-9, 4-2 ASUN)
Roster | Coaches | Schedule | Game Notes
April 9, 2019 | 6 p.m.
Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field | Coral Gables, Fla. | Buy Tickets | Directions
April 10, 2019 | 6:30 p.m.
Swanson Stadium | Fort Myers, Fla.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami baseball program will play a pair of midweek games against Florida Gulf Coast to kick off a five-game week for the Hurricanes.
The Canes (20-12, 7-8 ACC) will host the Eagles inside Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, while Miami travels to FGCU for a 6:30 p.m. start inside Swanson Stadium on Wednesday.
All Miami home games this season will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra. All baseball games, home and away, can be heard on WVUM90.5 FM and WVUM.org.
Miami freshman LHP JP Gates (0-1, 4.91 ERA) will make his first career start and he will oppose FGCU junior RHP Brenden Heiss (0-0, 9.95 ERA). Neither team has named starting pitcher for Wednesday’s game.
Miami’s Evan McKendry enters the week as the reigning ACC Pitcher of the Week, an honor that was bestowed upon him Monday. The junior right-hander kept Florida State’s bats in check in last Friday night’s series opener, allowing just three hits and striking out nine over seven scoreless innings to earn his fifth win of the year. McKendry is tied for second in the ACC with 61 strikeouts and has struck out eight-or-more batters in each of his last three starts.
After a four-homer weekend vs. Florida State, the Canes have hit 42 home runs over 32 games in 2019. UM, who is tied for the ACC lead with 42 homers, matched its 2018 season total of 23 home runs after just 15 games in 2019.
First baseman Alex Toral is tied for the ACC lead with a team-best 13 home runs, while third baseman Raymond Gil is second on the team and tied for seventh in the conference with eight homers. Ten different Hurricanes have hit at least one home run in 2019.
Freshman Adrian Del Castillo opened his career with a 15-game hit streak and has reached base in 30 of 32 games in 2019. Del Castillo’s 35 RBI are tied for the team lead with Freddy Zamora, while his nine doubles rank second on the team and his 41 hits are third. He has 12 multi-hit games and eight multi-RBI outings.
Sophomore third baseman Raymond Gil leads the Canes in hitting with a .382 average that ranks second in the ACC and is 41 points higher than any other qualifying Hurricane. Over the last 10 games, Gil is 15-for-33 (.455) with three doubles, three home runs, eight RBI and 10 runs scored.
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 (36thround, White Sox), Anthony Vilar (37thround, Cubs) and Cecconi (38thround, 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 Virginia Tech (April 26-28) and Duke (May 16-18), among others.
Miami’s road schedule includes trips to Virginia (April 12-14), Louisville (April 18-20) and Wake Forest (May 10-12).
