Few other teams in the nation face what Miami does when it comes to mid-week showdowns, with Florida such a mecca for college baseball.
Florida State is already on the schedule—with conference rankings on the line, as is rival Florida—an annual early-season showdown, with both sides playing balls out for nothing but pride and bragging rights.
Outside of the big boys, Miami must also brace for the spirited “lesser” programs, full of kids that wanted to go to The Big Three, didn’t get in and always play with a chip on their shoulder—treating those mid-week showdowns like the final game of a Super Regional.
Meanwhile, Miami and Florida State prep for meaningful Atlantic Coast Conference series and Florida works its way through the SEC—the three powers not always up for Tuesday night showdowns that are usually glorified scrimmages, the best pitchers saved for weekend rotations and a completely different coaching strategy all around.
Not counting six games against the Seminoles and Gators, the Canes have now faced 11 teams from the Sunshine State.
Central Florida, Barry, Florida Gulf Coast, Bethune-Cookman, Stetson and of course, Florida Atlantic—who Miami battled for the third time this season on Tuesday night, in another rowdy affair.
The Canes and Owls first went toe-to-toe this season in Boca Raton, with Miami suffering it’s first loss of the season, 5-3. In early April, a back-and-forth showdown in Coral Gables, where UM prevailed in extra innings, 4-3—by way of a George Iskenderian walk-off single.
While it didn’t appear Miami could pull off a better comeback against Florida Atlantic, that myth was destroyed with the final show down of the year—by way of a 14-6 victory as the No. 8 home team welcomed a fired-up twentieth-ranked rival.
Much like last time around, Iskenderian was again the hero—this time going 5-for-5, with three runs and two RBI. Zack Collins also remained on form, with two hits, two runs and three RBI—Miami bats staying hot as they were against New York Institute of Technology last weekend.
Tuesday night’s showdown played out like a boxing match, with both teams going toe-to-toe and answering blows. Miami picked up runs in the first and third innings, leading 2-0, but Florida Atlantic answered in the tip of the fourth and tied the game.
The Canes got back two more in the bottom of the fourth—a two-run homer by Willie Abreu—but the Owls responded with a grand slam—stealing momentum, as well as the lead, up 6-4.
The advantage was short-lived, though as Miami tied things back up by the bottom of the inning—6-6 going into the top of the sixth, courtesy of a David Thompson two-run shot.
What happened next; it’s just the type of mettle these Hurricanes need as they prepare for the Regionals, the Supers and whatever might lie ahead when facing tough-minded teams looking to knock down a bigger-named program.
Jacob Hayward drew a two-out walk. A batter later, Ricky Eusebio singled and Christopher Barr tripled, driving in both runners on base and giving the Canes an 8-6 advantage. From there, Iskenderian brought home Barr with an RBI singled and Collins delivered a two-run shot to right, completing the five-run, two-out rally.
From there, the Canes’ middle relievers and closer capitalized on the shell-shocked visitors, with Derik Beauprez, Michael Mediavilla and Bryan Garcia giving up three total hits and striking out four over the final four innings.
Danny Garcia lasted 4.1 innings for Miami, giving up five hits, allowing four runs and striking out five, while Daniel Briggi closed the top of the fourth, allowing one hits and two runs.
Conversely, the other dugout wasn’t quite done and the Miami offense tacked on three more in the bottom of the eighth, for good measure.
Still, the most impressive numbers to come out of the Canes 53rd game this season—hitting .588 (10-for-17) every time it faced a two-out scenario.
“We’re scoring a lot of runs, and we’re swinging the bat much better,” head coach Jim Morris said postgame. “It’s a different club. Our offense is much better than it was last year, and there are a lot of guys contributing and doing different things.”
The win-streak has reached nine and next up for Miami, a regular season-ending three-game home-stand against Georgia Tech—where the Canes are look to lock down the Coastal Division and are playing for a two-seed in next week’s ACC Tournament, behind top-seeded Louisville.
With conference tournament action kicking off next Tuesday in Greensboro, the Canes’ series against the Yellow Jackets will run Thursday through Saturday at The Light.
Thursday and Friday night will have a 7:00 p.m. ET first pitch, while the series finale gets underway at 1:00 p.m. ET on Saturday.