No. 23 Canes Ready for Series Finale vs. FGCU
No. 23 Miami (25-12, 10-8 ACC) vs. Florida Gulf Coast (24-12, 6-3 ASUN)
Roster | Coaches | Schedule | Game Notes
April 16, 2019 | 6 p.m.
Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field | Coral Gables, Fla. | Buy Tickets | Directions
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami baseball program will wrap up its midweek season series with Florida Gulf Coast on Tuesday.
The No. 23 Canes (25-12) will host the Eagles (24-12) inside Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field at 6 p.m. Miami won both meetings last week against FGCU, beating the Eagles on Tuesday 13-9 and winning at FGCU on Wednesday 10-1.
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.
The Hurricanes entered the top 25 Monday for the first time under head coach Gino DiMare. Miami cracked the top 25 in multiple polls, coming in at No. 23 in the D1Baseball Top 25, No. 22 in Collegiate Baseball’s NCAA Div. I Baseball Poll and No. 24 in the NCBWA Division I Poll.
Miami posted a perfect 5-0 week, taking two midweek games from Florida Gulf Coast before sweeping the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va., for the first time in program history. The Canes are ranked for the first time since the week of Feb. 26, 2018, when they came in at No. 24 in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll.
After a five-homer weekend at Virginia, the Canes have hit 50 home runs over 37 games in 2019. UM,
who is tied for the ACC lead with 50 homers, matched its 2018 season total of 23 home runs after just 15 games in 2019. Miami ranks sixth nationally in home runs as a team, tied with fellow ACC foe Wake Forest.
First baseman Alex Toral is tied for the ACC lead with a team-best 14 home runs, while third baseman Raymond Gil is second on the team and tied for seventh in the ACC with nine 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 34 of 37 games in 2019. A versatile player, Del Castillo has been entrenched in the middle of Miami’s lineup, batting third twice and cleanup 35 times.
Del Castillo’s 44 RBI and 13 doubles lead the Hurricanes, while his 48 hits are tied for first with Gil.He has a team-high 14 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI outings. A versatile player, Del Castillo has started double-digit games at catcher (10), right field (11) and designated hitter (16).
Four Canes entered the week ranked in the top 20 in the ACC in strikeouts: Evan McKendry (3rd, 64 K), Brian Van Belle (T-14th, 53), Chris McMahon (T-14th, 53) and Greg Veliz (T-17th, 51).
McKendry has had eight or more strikeouts in six starts in 2019 and is averaging 10.54 K/9, while Veliz is averaging 15.19 K/9 and is second among ACC relievers with 51 strikeouts in 30.2 innings pitched.
Van Belle ranks fourth in the ACC with 21 batters struck out looking, while freshman RHP Slade Cecconi is tied for ninth with 17 batters caught looking.
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 10thamong 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 Louisville (April 18-20) and Wake Forest (May 10-12).
