Previewing Canes Baseballs’ First Midweek Opponents of the Season

After a disappointing 9-5 loss in their season opener against Penn State, the Miami Hurricanes baseball team responded with back-to-back wins to take home the first series of the season. The Nittany Lions jumped on the Canes early in the Friday opener, going up 4-0 in the 2^nd inning and despite a late rally, Miami could never get back into striking distance. Saturday was a different story as the Canes struck first and went up 2-0 in the 1^st inning before continuing to pour it on as they tied up the series with a 10-2 blowout win. The rubber match, while lower scoring, had no shortage of fireworks. Dominant pitching performances on both sides of the diamond lead to the Canes trailing 2-1 heading into the bottom of the 9^th inning where Miami’s 2022 season MVP, CJ Kayfus, took matters into his own hands and won both the game and series for the Canes with a 2-run walk-off home run.

As the Canes look to build on their season opening series win, they host the Stetson Hatters and Indiana State Sycamores in back-to-back midweek games at Mark Light Field. Stetson will be the first team to make their way down to Coral Gables this week as they take on the Canes Tuesday night on the ACCNX at 6PM. Stetson is coming off of an impressive series sweep of Manhattan in which they outscored their opponent 35-7 over the 3 games. The Canes will be looking for revenge in this matchup after falling to Stetson 12-4 in last years’ lone matchup against the Hatters.

The Canes’ pitching staff will need to have their best stuff in the first mid-week game of the year as they face a Stetson offense that’s batting .330 with 36 hits and 35 runs scored in 3 games this season. Stetson’s bats have shown some explosiveness early on this year as they currently lead the country in doubles while also being top 10 in home runs. On the flip side, the Hatters will hand the ball to Miami native and Columbus High School graduate, Jonathan Gonzalez. The Junior left-handed pitcher started 9 games last year and had an ERA of 5.34 in 64 innings pitched. Gonzalez was perfect in the one inning he threw this year as he struck out 2 against Manhattan on Friday. After a slow start, the Canes will look to get the bats warmed up against a pitcher that many players know well both on and off the field.

After a Tuesday night matchup against the Hatters, the Canes will be right back at it again on Wednesday against the Indiana State Sycamores. The Sycamores went 1-1 over the opening weekend, losing 6-2 to Iowa in the season opener before bouncing back to defeat Quinnipiac 6-1 on Saturday. On their way down to Coral Gables, Indiana State will make a stop in Fort Myers on Tuesday to take on FGCU. Miami has faced off against Indiana State 5 times dating back to 1980 and the Canes have taken home the W in all 5 previous meetings. They’ll look to continue that run and make it 6 straight at 6pm this Wednesday in a game that will also be aired on the ACCNX.

Coming off of an up and down season opening series, a sweep of the midweek games will be big to get the Canes off and rolling this season. Miami fans and players alike will be hoping to see the bats get going and see the power and ability to put up some crooked numbers that many were expecting coming into this year. A 2-0 week against Stetson and Indiana State will set the Canes up nicely to be riding a 4-game winning streak into the weekend, where a 3-game series against Dartmouth will be waiting.