Canes Baseball Continues Rolling Along

March 29th, 2025- Miami Hurricanes fall to North Carolina 4-2. It’s been a dismal start to the season, as they are now at the bottom of the ACC Conference standings at 1-7 (14-14 overall).

May 9th, 2025- After wins over ACC first-place NC State last Friday and Saturday nights,

Hurricane Baseball now stands alone in fifth place in the 16-team standings.

Miami improved their ACC record to 14-9 and are now 29-18 in all games played. The Canes and the Wolfpack played on Sunday, but the contest was canceled due to lightning and heavy rainfall.

Miami had taken a 2-0 lead in the bottom half of the third, when left fielder Max Galvin followed shortstop Jake Ogden’s leadoff hit with a blast over the outfield wall.

If Miami held a lead to the game’s conclusion, they would be part of a four-way tie for ACC second place. From a 1-7 start to five consecutive conference series wins.

How did this happen?

In last week’s edition, I listed five reasons. This week, I’ll add one more: the leadership of head coach JD Arteaga and the mentorship of pitching and mental skills coach Laz Gutierrez.

Arteaga is the winningest pitcher in UM history with 43. He played four years for the Canes, 1994-97, and Miami competed in the College World Series in Omaha in all four years.

J.D.’s number 33 was retired in 2003, and he was inducted into the UM Hall of Fame in 2007. Gutierrez has spent 13 years with the Boston Red Sox, the last six as mental skills coordinator. The Red Sox won World Series Championships in 2013 and 2018 in those six years.

Laz was a pitcher for Miami on three Jim Morris teams and pitched three years in the Detroit Tigers and San Diego Padres organizations. Griffen Hugus has been a weekend starter all season. With an injury to Nick Robert and the move of Brian Walters to closer, J.D. and Laz had two freshmen prepared to take over their starting slots.

AJ Ciscar started the year as a middle reliever and has transitioned smoothly into Miami’s Saturday starter. Ciscar holds a 4-1 record with a 3.42 era.

Tate DeRias has made four Sunday starts and is 2-0 with a 2.60 era. Kudos to Arteaga and Gutierrez for staying the course with both young arms.

The Friday game against the Wolfpack was a Daniel Cuvet show. In the first inning, Galvin reached on a single, and Cuvet followed with a shot of 420’ plus over the centerfield fence.

NC State returned with a run on a sac fly in the top of the third. In Miami’s third, Galvin doubled, and Cuvet took a 0-1 pitch over the left field wall for a 4-1 lead.

The Pack evened the score in the fourth. Two singles, an error, another single, a wild pitch, a fielder’s choice, and another error made it 4-4.

Miami took the lead for good in the fifth on Homestead’s own, Jake Ogden’s heroics.

Jake doubled to right to open the frame and moved to third on a

Galvin grounder. With two out, Ogden earned himself an ESPN SportsCenter Top 10 moment (it was #4). NC State left-handed pitcher Dominic Fritton made the mistake of turning away from Ogden and looking down into his glove. Jake bolted off third and stole home; it wasn’t even close.

In the seventh, Ogden again led off with a double. He scored when Cuvet hit a sacrifice fly to center for his fifth RBI.

Hugus went 5.1 to earn the win. Walters notched his seventh save in the 6-4 Canes win. At his start on Saturday, Ciscar was masterful. He went 6.2, giving up five hits and one run with six strikeouts.

The first four batters in Miami’s lineup provided all the offense needed.

Ogden led off and was 2-4 with two runs scored. Galvin was 2-5 with three runs and 1 RBI. Cuvet was 3-3 with two runs and 3 RBI. Cleanup hitter Dorian Gonzalez Jr. was 3-4 with one run and 4 RBI in the 10-3 series, securing the win.

Six ACC games remain in the season, and there is an awful lot to play for. Miami can finish first in regular season standings and as low as eleventh. The ACC tournament will be played at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, NC. It will be a single-elimination format and run from May 20-25th.

Teams that finish in the top four regular season standings won’t play until May 22nd, and need only three wins to earn the ACC Title; the teams that finish between 5th and 8th start play on May 21st and need to win four in a row.

Teams that finish between 9th and 16th start play on May 20th and need to win five in a row for the Trophy. Friday, May 23rd, is a rest day. The semifinals are on Saturday, May 24th, and the championship game is Sunday, May 25th. All conference tournament games will be televised on the ACC Network.

Miami is up in Charlottesville to play a three-game series this weekend against the ACC 9th-place Virginia Cavaliers or Wahoos or Hoos (11-10, 26-16).

In Friday’s 6 pm opener, Hugus will be on the hill for the Canes, and senior right-hander Jay Woolfolk (2-2, 5.11 era) will get the start for the Hoos.

In Saturday’s four pm tilt, Ciscar will go for Miami, and junior left-hander Bradley Hodges (2-1, 1.21 era in 22.1 innings) will take the ball for the Wahoos.

In Sunday’s noon finale, DeRias will face the Cavaliers freshman lefty, Tomás Valincius (4-1, 5.05 era).

Virginia has a team batting average of .307 this season. The Hoos will hit. The Canes pitchers cannot give up walks. The starters must get ahead in the count and throw competitive pitches in every at-bat.

This looks like a weekend of very competitive baseball, as both teams are playing for a top-eight or even a top-four finish to the season. There is a possibility of rain on Friday. All games are expected to be played in moderate low 70s temperatures. All games will be on WVUM (90.5) FM radio.

The Canes will play their last regular season home series against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Thursday, May 15th (7 pm), Friday, May 16th (7 pm), and Saturday, May 17th (1 pm). Come on out and root your Canes on. The importance of these games cannot be overstated. The players need and deserve a raucous and supportive crowd behind them.

That’s it for now. Be well all, and Go, Canes!