Baseball Woes Continue

Miami Hurricane Baseball is a storied program. The Miami fan base has exceptionally high expectations. The Canes have appeared in 25 College World Series and have won National Championships in 1 982,-85,-99, and 2001. They have won 29 regionals. They appeared in 44 consecutive NCAA regionals between 1973-2016.

Legendary coach Ron Fraser started the streak in 1973 and took Miami to the NCAAs 20 times before retiring after the 1992 season. The university built a statue of Coach Frasier outside Mark Light Stadium. Coach Brad Kelly kept the streak alive in 1993 before Jim Morris took the reins and extended the continuous success up to 2016. Gino DiMare was head coach from 2019 to 2023 and took the Canes into regional play every year except 2020, when NCAA baseball was canceled due to Covid. JD Arteaga took the helm in 2024, and Miami finished (27-30) and missed the tournament.

Fair or not, Coach Arteaga is on the hot seat. Today's college sports competition does not resemble what it was just a few short years ago. Student-athletes just three or four years ago chose their college or university based on education, coaches, and what might be best for their futures. Today, it's about the money.

Last season, more than 20 college quarterbacks had NIL (name, image, and likeness) deals for $ 1,000,000 or more. There's talk that in the college basketball portal, some players have been offered upwards of 2.5 million dollars in bidding wars for their services.

This brings me back to baseball and the dilemma Miami Baseball and head coach Arteaga find themselves in due to today's lack of oversight in collegiate athletics. Miami competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference with schools like Notre Dame, Duke, Clemson, North Carolina, and others, who all generate at least ten times the revenue from their athletic programs than Miami. It's no longer a level playing field.

Miami (15-14, 2-7 ACC) was up in Chapel Hill last weekend to play the No. 19 North Carolina Tar Heels. The Canes played like a tournament team in all three games but only earned one win. In Friday's opener, Miami's starter Griffin Hugus pitched a complete game, surrendering only three hits and two runs. The Canes doubled the Heels in hits with six, but never got a runner across the plate. Miami had bases loaded with one out in the seventh but never got the needed hit.

On Saturday, the defense let Miami down. The Canes were up 1-0, and Carolina was battling in the bottom of the fourth when a two-out error by Miami second baseman Dorian Gonzalez Jr. opened the doors for a four-unearned run rally. A Derek Williams home run closed the gap to 4-2 in the sixth, but Miami couldn't score again. They lost a game when they didn't give up an earned run and in which their relievers did not give up a hit over the last 4 1/3 innings.

On Sunday, the Canes avoided the brooms with a 4-2 win. Starter AJ Ciscar went four innings, giving up two hits and one unearned run in the first. Alex Giroux pitched the last 4 1/3 innings and earned the win. Miami tied it at 1-1 when D Williams scored on a wild pitch in the sixth and took a 4-1 lead in the ninth on a bases-loaded clearing single by Daniel Cuvet.

The series was somewhat typical of Miami's season. To date, they win battles (22 hits to NC's 17) and lose wars. The Canes only gave up three earned runs all weekend but lost the series. Miami has dug a hole for itself and must eliminate mistakes to dig itself out. With 21 conference games and five non-conference remaining, it will likely take winning 14 of the 21 conference and 4 of 5 non-conference games (for a record of 33-22, 16-14 ACC) to earn a spot in the NCAAs.

Miami has a chance to get back on track in Pittsburgh this weekend when they take on the Panthers (16-11,3-6). The first pitches on Friday and Saturday are at 3 pm, and it's a 1 pm start on Sunday. The Canes return home to play Bethune-Cookman on Wednesday, April 9th at 6 pm. Wednesday games featured $2 Hot Dogs and $4 Beers. The Canes host the Duke Blue Devils on April 11th at 7:00 pm, April 12th at 6:00 pm, and April 13th at 1:00 pm. That's it for now. Be well all, and Go Canes!