''The Main Goal Has Been to Go to Omaha''

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – It was a postseason run few of them have forgotten.

Last spring, after an up-and-down regular season that included both some big wins and tough losses, the Hurricanes managed to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

There, Miami – the No. 3 seed in the Hattiesburg Regional – knocked off top-seeded Southern Miss to advance to the Super Regionals for the first time since 2016. The Hurricanes then took Louisville to the brink before ultimately, falling just one run shy of beating the Cardinals and moving on to the College World Series.

There were plenty of reasons for the Hurricanes to be proud, from the resilience they showed during the regular season to their performance in the postseason.

But there was disappointment, too and now, with a new season set to begin Friday, the Hurricanes say that disappointment is going to provide plenty of fuel all year long.

“Last year was super cool. I mean, the team that we had last year, we had a lot of great guys. From the outside, everybody probably thought that we weren’t going to go as far, but from the inside, we knew what the team was capable of,” said fifth-year senior outfielder Derek Williams. “Going to the regional and the super regional was by far the best baseball and the most fun I’ve had. But it kind of left a little dirty taste in my mouth, not making it [and] going all the way. So, this year, the main goal has been to go to Omaha and that’s been our talks from day one, to go all the way this year. That’s been our main focus. That’s the goal this year.”

Added Hurricanes head coach J.D. Arteaga, “It’s an exciting time. To build off last year’s season and the run we went on at the end there, with the super regionals and really being one run away from getting to Omaha was great, but now it’s about taking that next step and winning that super regional to get where we want to be.”

Miami will get its first chance to start that journey to Omaha on Friday night when the Hurricanes open the 2026 season at Mark Light Field with a three-game homestand against Lehigh.

The Hurricanes, who posted a 35-27 record last year, will send right-handed pitcher AJ Ciscar to the mound in the opener after the sophomore put together a memorable debut campaign for Miami last year.

Ciscar, who starred at Fort Lauderdale’s St. Thomas Aquinas before signing with Miami, earned first-team Freshman All-America honors from D1 Baseball and was an ACC All-Freshman Team selection after posting a 6-2 record and 4.46 ERA with 65 strikeouts.

And the South Florida native says having the chance to be Miami’s Opening Day – and Friday night – starter is a responsibility he doesn’t take lightly.

“It’s something I didn’t really expect to happen my sophomore year, but just kind of trusting the process and just going about my business the same way every day,” Ciscar said. “It’s a blessing to be here … And opening weekend, we’re going in here [to] make a statement, right? We have a new identity, new team, new guys, put together new lineups, a new weekend rotation. We’re going to go in there, we’re going to set a tone, like you’re saying. We’re going to play our brand of baseball and continue to play that game for the rest of the year, hopefully.”

Rounding out Miami’s opening weekend rotation will be sophomores Lazaro Collera and Tate DeRias, both of whom saw action for the Hurricanes last season and will be looking to improve on their freshman-year numbers.

It’s on the mound where Arteaga feels the Hurricanes might face the most questions, given the fact Griffin Hugus, Brian Walters, Reese Lumpkin and Carson Fischer were all drafted, but the coach is hopeful Miami’s trio of sophomores, combined with the addition of transfers Ryan Bilka and Frank Menendez, when he joins the team in March, will give Miami a boost.

“The big question mark, obviously, is the pitching and [it’s] really more because of the amount of innings that we lost. We lost the entire bullpen and two out of our four starters … I think it’s just the unknown. I wouldn’t say I’d call it a weakness, but just the unknown of it is our biggest concern right now.”

One area where the Hurricanes should be particularly strong? The plate.

The Hurricanes are expected to have a hard-hitting lineup that has plenty of potential to make life challenging for opposing pitchers.

Veteran third baseman Daniel Cuvet, who led the Hurricanes with a .372 batting average, 18 home runs, 84 RBI, 20 doubles and a .708 slugging percentage, is back and has already garnered a bevy of preseason accolades, including first team All-American honors from Perfect Game, D1Baseball, and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

Cuvet, who has also earned a spot on the Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List, will be surrounded in the lineup by the likes of Williams, who also hit .372 last year, infielder Jake Ogden, who hit .336 with 36 RBI in 2025, outfielder Max Galvin, who hit .313 with 37 RBI last year, and transfer Alex Sosa, a catcher who hit .291 with 40 RBI and 10 home runs at NC State last season.

“I think this is the most potent offense we’ve had since I’ve been here, and by a lot,” Cuvet said. “I’m excited for that and I think we’re going to swing it really well and there’s going to be a lot of guys besides me just producing a lot for us and it’s going to be huge.”

Said Williams, “The offense is definitely going to hit, for sure. We’ve got a lot of guys coming back from last year who had a lot of offense going with me, Max, Ogden, [Cuvet], and then we’re also going to plug in some new guys like Sosa, Vance [Sheahan], Brylan West, and Cian Copeland and we’re going to have a lot of experience and a lot of guys who are ready to come hit. … They’ve been putting in a lot of work in, extra time as well, so we’re going to be a really good lineup up and down, and balanced.”

Despite the number of new faces in the lineup and the questions potentially surrounding the rotation and bullpen, the Hurricanes know full well what the expectations are in Miami, year in and year out.

The goal is always to advance to Omaha and the College World Series and coming as close as they did last year will only be motivation to continue growing and continue improving as this new season begins.

For all of them, another regional run won’t be enough. Not anymore.

“I don’t think the amount of wins in the regular season is something that we kind of judge ourselves by here,” Arteaga said. “It’s putting another banner on the wall and getting to Omaha, getting to the [College] World Series. So, to me, we got hot at the right time last year and won some big games and then things came together at the right time. We could win 45 games, [but if] we’re not in Omaha, it’s not a great season here. So, our goal is still the same. It’s being one of those final eight in the College World Series.”