Miami Hurricanes Baseball Faces Defining Series at Florida State

The Miami Hurricanes baseball team has enjoyed a solid, if unspectacular season, to this point at 35-15 overall, 15-12 in ACC play. The key now? Put it all together at the right time. Because while UM has won six of its last seven weekend ACC series, the team hasn’t swept any of them, and there hasn’t been enough consistency with the bats and arms both performing at a high level at the same time.

The postseason is rapidly approaching, with a final regular season series starting Thursday night at No. 11 Florida State this weekend.

A sweep – as unlikely as it may seem perhaps – would push the Canes into at worst fourth place in the ACC entering the conference tournament, and possibly as high as third. Conversely, get swept and Miami could finish behind seven or eight ACC teams.

So yeah, a lot rides on this series.

A big question for Miami as it enters this stretch run is when star star 3B Daniel Cuvet (.305, 12 HRs) might return off a stress fracture in his back. Cuvet was not at practice Monday and there’s no timetable for his return.

“He’s day to day, seeing doctors, still trying to see when he can get back into baseball activity,” Arteaga said. “It’s been three weeks now where it’s no activity at all. The type of injury he has, it’s rest, not much more you can do other than that. And it’s a matter of when he can start moving forward to baseball activity – rotation, strength, things like that. The longer he’s out, the longer it’s going to take him to get back once he starts those activities. Your guess is as good as mine (when/if he’ll return).

“I don’t know if it’s pain tolerance or not, but once he’s cleared to start doing things I’m going to say it’s up to him (when he can return to the lineup). There’s no date we are looking at, circled on the calendar. Once he gets cleared and we see how he feels moving around, then we can paint a better picture. It might be back half of the ACC Tournament or some point in regionals, super regionals. Until he starts moving, there’s no point in trying to guess when he’s back.”

Freshman Gabriel Milano has replaced him, and hitting in the back of the order has a .300 average with three homers.

“(Milano) is doing a great job offensively, defensively he’s made some mistakes, but he’s not the only one on our roster making mistakes defensively,” Arteaga said. “He has really been swinging the bat well.”

While the team waits on a Cuvet return date, where Miami will fit into the final ACC standings remain just as cloudy. Georgia Tech and North Carolina have run away as the top two ACC teams, with BC and FSU tied for third at 17-10. Miami sits at 15-12, just ahead of 14-13 Wake Forest, 13-14 Virginia, 13-14 NC State and 13-14 Virginia Tech (the Yellow Jackets play at Boston College this weekend; Virginia plays at Louisville, NC State hosts North Carolina, and Virginia Tech hosts Clemson).

“We do our part, mathematically we can still finish as high as three,” Arteaga said. “We’d have to win all three games, Boston College has to lose all three. Have to win Thursday, can’t sweep them unless we win Thursday. We win Thursday and worry about Friday then.

“It’s a high quality conference that everybody can play.”

FSU will be a tough test. The team has a .282 average, and leading the way at the plate is OF Brody Delamielleure (.350, 7 HR), C/DH Hunter Carns (.317, 4 HR), C Nathan Cmeyla (.304, 4 HR) and OF Brayden Dowd (.297, 9 HR). On the mound the team’s starters are Wes Mendes (9-3, 2.42 ERA), Trey Beard (5-1, 5.12 ERA) and Bryson Moore (6-1, 4.09 ERA), with key relievers John Abraham (1-1, 1.04 ERA, 6 saves) and Chris Knier (3-0, 2.62 ERA, 4 saves). The team is missing its top hitter, with Myles Bailey (.363, 13 HR) out for the year due to injury.

Of facing Mendes, who is one of the ACC’s top pitchers, Arteaga said, “We have to do a good job, be disciplined. These are games we’ve been talking about all season. No matter how good your offense is you have to be able to manufacture runs.”

Miami remains outside the nation’s top 25, and a reason why is despite the 35 wins, the strength of schedule is an issue – eight of the victories were gimmes vs. Lehigh, Indiana State and Lafayette. And there wasn’t ACC domination.

Sweep FSU and win the ACC Tournament? Then we’ll have a different conversation about hosting regionals. But this team is taking a one-game-at-a-time approach, given the unlikelihood of that scenario.

“Just treat it like every other series, really just another game, another series we want to win,” C/IF Alex Sosa said. “It’s a rivalry two really good teams going at it. We want to win.”

Entering the season the perception was the bats would lead Miami. And maybe that will be the case now – after scoring four or less runs in eight of 14 games, Miami’s now scored 6+ runs in each of the last six.

“I wouldn’t say we’ve played good baseball all year,” IF Jake Ogden said. “We’ve had our lapses in all aspects of the game, but at this time of the year when we put it all together we’re going to be dangerous.”

He adds of facing FSU that “We definitely don’t like those guys. … this gives us that playoff atmosphere before we go into the postseason.”

Miami’s hitting .306 as a team, and with Cuvet out is led by Derek Williams (.382, 14 home runs), Sosa (.342, team high 15 HRs), Ogden (.322, 5 HRs) and Brylan West (.309, 5 HRs). West is dealing with an ankle injury but is at practice and is “moving around pretty well,” per Arteaga.

Sosa played first base for the first time this past series, and says “I never played first base before, but it’s just another infield spot – nothing too crazy.”

“Whatever the best lineup, guys we can put out on the field, whatever gives us the best chance to win, that’s what you’re going to see,” Arteaga says.

On the mound the team has Rob Evans as the typical Friday night starter (9-3, 3.41 ERA, 12 starts) followed by Lazaro Collera (3-2, 4.68 ERA, 12 starts) on Saturday and AJ Ciscar (4-3, 4.35 ERA, 12 starts) on Sunday. Arteaga declined to comment on if he’ll shift any of them around for the FSU series.

“(Our approach) doesn’t change with where we’re at, who we’re playing, the environment,” Evans said. “It’s a game. Go out, throw strikes, get ahead.”

Other key pitchers are spot starter TJ Coats (6-2, 4.42 ERA, 16 appearances, 4 starts), Jake Dorn out of the bullpen (5.19 ERA, 5-0 record, 26 appearances) and closer Lyndon Glidewell (2.87 ERA, 3-0, 4 saves). Glidewell has taken on that role after Ryan Bilka struggled (2-1, 4.82 ERA, 22 appearances).

“Shout out to the coaches for having faith in me closing,” Glidewell said. “Pitching wins championships.”

A final takeaway entering the FSU series?

“It’s a great opportunity going against a top-ranked team on the road,” Arteaga said. “We can make a statement. Our schedule in the ACC, we missed some of the top teams. Now we have an opportunity to show what we can do in Tallahassee against a rival. Looking forward to it.

“(Do well this series would send the message that) we belong in the top, with those guys at the top, are no different. … This weekend can show that we belong in that top echelon of the conference.”