Fine line between a series sweep and losing two

I know when Miami and Florida State get together on the baseball diamond, it’s always a dog fight. That said, it’s been a while since I remember a series going down like this one.

The No. 9 Canes trekked to Tallahassee to take on the No. 6 Seminoles and after taking game one 6-5, UM lost the next two 8-7 and 7-6. Three one-run games are impressive in their own right, but how these games shook out – that’s a completely different monster.

Trailing 4-1 after five in game one, Miami bats came alive in the middle innings, pushing the Canes to a 6-4 lead after six. UM’s pitching remained strong on Friday night, giving up two hits the final five innings and most importantly, a three up/three down bottom of the ninth while clinging to a one-run lead.

On Saturday and Sunday, the complete opposite.

A 7-6 lead entering the Saturday’s bottom of the ninth was gone within moments. Florida State stated at the top of the order, with Tyler Holt swinging at the first pitch from Daniel Miranda, singling to center. Stephen Cardullo worked the count and walked and Mike McGee reached on a fielding error, loading the bases before Miami could blink.

On Sunday, deja vu all over again. Down 6-5 entering the bottom of the ninth, Florida State had the meat of their lineup ready to go. Miami’s Sam Robinson walked leadoff batter Parker Brunelle. He was pulled in favor of Taylor Wulf, who quickly struck out Holt and Cardullo.

McGee, known as the “Hurricane Killer” came to the plate, worked the count and faced every boy’s dream – 3-2 count, two outs, representing the winning run against your arch-rival and with the series on the line, smashed Wulf’s pitch over the right center wall. 7-6, Noles win.

Some will blame pitching and the decisions made by the coaching staff, but when you lose two games by a total of two runs and strand 24 runners on base during that span, blame lies on bats going cold more than it does pitching not coming through.

It’s a kin to those who blame the defense for breaking down in recent Miami football losses, when the offense continued going three and out, putting immense pressure on the D to keep the Canes in the game.

Jumping out to a 7-2 lead by the end of the fifth inning, only mustering up four more hits down the stretch and stranding five – that’s how you lose ballgames. Florida State is a solid team. They’re going to chip away at the stone, scoring more runs. A five-run deficit is surmountable, but the Canes had ample opportunity to push this thing out of reach, but didn’t.

Sunday’s rubber match had Miami leading 6-4 after six, outscored by Florida State 3-0 in the final two innings. Again the Canes went cold. One hit the final three innings and four left on base. Conversely, a two-run lead should’ve been more, with UM stranding eight between the second and sixth innings.

From a psychological standpoint, there couldn’t have been a worse ending to this high-intensity, baseball-filled weekend. Halfway through Saturday, it looked as if the Canes had a legitimate chance to sweep Florida State (though in college baseball, that thinking is obviously premature).

A 6-5 Friday night win and Saturday 7-2 lead after five, the Canes were outscored 13-6 over the next thirteen innings.

Next up, what should be a Tuesday night breather against St. Thomas and a Wednesday night showdown with South Florida. Next weekend Maryland comes to town and following that, Barry visits for a three-game series.

Mid-May it gets hairy again with Miami playing three at Georgia Tech, ranked No. 8 in the current polls and after a one-game stand against Florida Gulf Coast, current No. 1 Virginia visits for the home finale.

Time for these newly ranked No. 16 Canes to get a little more grit as the 2010 regular season winds down. Mental meltdowns like the ones which took place this past weekend in Tallahassee – not exactly the mettle championship teams are made of.

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