Miami (18-11, 5-7 ACC) vs. Florida State (18-10, 6-6 ACC)
Roster | Coaches | Schedule | Game Notes
April 3, 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 host rival Florida State for a three-game series this weekend inside Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.
First-year head coach Gino DiMare will lead his Hurricanes (18-11, 5-7 ACC) against Mike Martin’s Seminoles (18-10, 6-6 ACC). Martin, who is the winningest coach in NCAA Division I baseball history, will face the Canes for the final time in his career.
Friday and Saturday’s games are scheduled for 7 p.m., while Sunday’s series finale will begin at 1 p.m. All home games this season will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra. Saturday’s games will be broadcast live on 790 The Ticket, while Sunday’s game will be carried in Spanish on 990 AM ESPN Deportes. All baseball games, home and away, can be heard on WVUM 90.5 FM and WVUM.org.
Miami head football coach Manny Diaz will throw out the ceremonial first pitch before Friday’s series opener, while the Hurricanes will recognize Martin pregame for his 40-year career.
The Hurricanes will also honor the 1999 national championship team on Saturday, as they celebrate the 20th anniversary of clinching the program’s third national title with a 6-5 win over the Seminoles.
After Gabe Rivera’s solo homer against FAU, the Canes have hit 38 home runs over 29 games in 2019. UM, who is second in the ACC lead with 38 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 12 home runs, while third baseman Raymond Gil is second on the team and tied for third 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 28 of 29 games in 2019. Del Castillo’s 34 RBI lead the Hurricanes, while his 39 hits and nine doubles rank second on the team. He has 12 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI performances.
Sophomore third baseman Raymond Gil leads the Canes in hitting with a .386 average that ranks second in the ACC and is 38 points higher than any other Hurricane. Over the last five games, Gil is 9-for-16 (.563) with a double, three home runs, seven RBI and six runs scored.
Gil was a terror for opposing pitchers a week ago, going 6-for-10 with a double and a pinch-hit homer at Pitt. He also posted a career-high five RBI at FAU on March 27, going 3-for-4 with a pair of homers.
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), Anthony 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 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).