No. 23 Canes Set for Showdown at No. 8 Louisville
#23 Miami (26-12, 10-8 ACC) vs. #8 Louisville (29-8, 13-5 ACC)
Roster | Coaches | Schedule | Game Notes
April 18-20, 2019 | 5 p.m. | 6 p.m. | 1 p.m.
Jim Patterson Field | Louisville, Ky.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The 23rd-ranked University of Miami baseball program heads to Kentucky for a three-game conference series against No. 8 Louisville.
First-year head coach Gino DiMare will lead his Hurricanes (26-12, 10-8 ACC) against Dan McDonnell’s Cardinals (29-8, 13-5 ACC). Because of expected inclement weather, Thursday’s game has been moved up one hour to a 5 p.m. start. Friday’s game will start at 6 p.m., while Saturday’s finale is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start. All three games at Louisville will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra. All baseball games, home and away, can be heard on WVUM 90.5 FM and WVUM.org.
Louisville leads the all-time series, 6-4. Miami won the series the last time the two sides met, taking the first two games of a weekend set in 2016.
The Hurricanes entered the top 25 Monday for the first time under DiMare’s leadership. 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.
The Hurricanes beat FGCU, 13-4, on Tuesday to sweep the Eagles in the season series and win their sixth consecutive game. Miami has won eight of its last nine games.
Miami freshman right-hander Slade Cecconi (5-2, 3.83 ERA) will oppose Louisville ace lefty Reid Detmers (6-2, 2.24 ERA) on Thursday. Game 2 will feature Miami ace right-hander Evan McKendry (6-1, 4.12 ERA) against sophomore right-hander Bobby Miller (2-0, 4.11 ERA). The Canes will start redshirt junior RHP Brian Van Belle (5-2, 3.28 ERA) against Louisville junior LHP Nick Bennett (5-2, 3.35 ERA) in Saturday’s finale.
After a five-homer weekend at Virginia, the Canes have hit 50 home runs over 38 games in 2019. UM, who is third in the ACC with 50 homers, matched its 2018 season total of 23 home runs after just 15 games in 2019. Miami ranks ninth nationally in home runs as a team, tied with Bryant University.
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 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 35 of 38 games in 2019. Del Castillo has been entrenched in the middle of Miami’s lineup, batting third twice and cleanup 36 times.
Del Castillo’s 51 hits, 48 RBI and 15 doubles lead the Hurricanes.He has a team-high 15 multi-hit games and 11 multi-RBI outings.His 11 multi-RBI games are the most by a Hurricane freshman since Zack Collins in 2014. A versatile player, Del Castillo has started double-digit games at catcher (11), right field (11) and designated hitter (16).
Four Canes entered the week ranked in the top 20 in the ACC in strikeouts: McKendry (3rd, 64 K), 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. 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 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 final road series features a trip to Wake Forest (May 10-12).
