Miami baseball limps into postseason

This is generally the time of year when even the casual Miami baseball fan tunes in; the postseason. January through late May are enjoyable, but the regionals and being part of the elite eight who reach Omaha, that’s what it’s all about.

UM limped out the gates, starting the season 5-8 with losses to Rutgers, Florida Atlantic, Appalachian State and South Florida and Illinois State. Miami was also swept at Florida, making for a 1-9 against the Gators in the last ten meetings.

Omaha used to be as close to a ‘gimmie’ regarding any South Florida team and postseason success. In eleven of seventeen season, Canes head coach Jim Morris has reached the College World Series. He’s won it twice and lost the national championship game by a run on a two-out, bottom of the ninth, walk-off home run.

Between 1994 and 2001, Morris’ Canes were at their best, reaching Omaha seven of eight season, playing for three titles and leaving with two. Since 2002 the Canes returned to Rosenblatt four of nine tries and have gone 4-8, sent packing by the third game each visit.

Miami hasn’t really played like “Miami” since June 2008, when the top-seeded Canes reached their 23rd College World Series by knocking off Arizona in the Super Regionals. The Canes rolled into Omaha with a 52-9 record, after a dramatic series win over the Wildcats.

UM lost the final two games of the regular season, but stepped up in the postseason, winning seven straight; four at the ACC Tournament and a clean sweep of Bethune Cookman, Missouri and Mississippi in the regionals before dropping the Super Regional opener to Arizona, 6-2.

The Canes responded with a 14-10 win on Saturday night and followed with a do-or-die 4-2 win on Sunday but once in Omaha, disaster struck in UM’s worst ninth inning at Rosenblatt since Warren Morris ended the 1996 season with one swing.

Leading 4-3 with closer Carlos Gutierrez on the mound, two errant throws, three hits and four runs later, the Canes were shell-shocked, in a hole and went three up, three down en route to a 7-4 opening round loss. Miami never recovered, beating Florida State two days later, but falling to Stanford in game three and heading home 1-2 as the top seed.

The past two seasons, insult to injury as Miami’s season ended in Gainesville. In 2009, two losses to Florida in the regional and last season, back-to-back losses courtesy of the Gators in the Super Regional.

The Canes enter this year’s ACC Tournament with a 34-20 record, having gone 7-8 down the stretch with three of those losses coming to Hofstra, Florida Atlantic and Duke. Of the 34 wins, 15 came against Rutgers, Florida Atlantic, South Florida, Illinois State, Florida Gulf Coast, Barry and Bethune Cookman.

Miami went 19-10 in conference this season, winning series against Wake Forest, Boston College, NC State and swept Virginia Tech. UM won series against Maryland, North Carolina and Duke, but dropped two of three to Florida State and Virginia after being swept at Georgia Tech earlier in the year. The Canes went 1-5 combined against the Gators and Noles this season.

ACC postseason play begins in Durham, NC this Thursday with Miami taking on North Carolina at 11am ET. On Friday, an 11am showdown with Virginia and a Saturday 3pm meeting with Wake Forest is on the books. In the regular season the Canes went 2-1 against the Tar Heels, 1-2 against the Cavaliers and 3-0 against the Demon Deacons.

The NCAA Regionals kick off Friday June 3rd with the Super Regionals starting on Friday June 10th. The College World Series gets underway Saturday June 18th in Omaha at TD AMERITRADE Park, marking the first time the event hasn’t taken place at Rosenblatt since 1947.

How the rest of this season plays out for Miami is anybody’s guess. At times, bats have come alive and the pitching has been there and other weeks, inexplicable losses, errors and uncharacteristic play for Morris’ Canes.

A down season here or there is understandable and while 39 straight postseason appearances are beyond impressive, the bar was set high at Miami over three decades ago. Since 1978, the Canes have only missed Omaha back-to-back seasons in 1990-1991 and 2009-2010.

During that run, there’s never been a three year absence from the College World Series, which is danger of becoming a reality should UM falter down the stretch this season. Still, that doesn’t mean fans should start calling for Morris’ head. Not with his resume, not with eleven CWS appearances in seventeen years, not with two rings and one pitch away from three.

Morris is still one of the best in the game, but how the Canes close out the season might build an argument for some staff changes or upgrades. There’s truly no excuse for three down years on the diamond in Coral Gables. Scholarship woes aside, (check out Beast’s recent piece on no full rides for baseball at The U), it’s looked more like a lack of heart and some not-so-smart baseball than an overall talent issue.

In other words, losing to Florida Atlantic, Appalachian State, Illinois State and Hofstra is unacceptable.

Miami needed to get better down the stretch, not worse, and losing seven of the last fifteen wasn’t the way the Canes wanted to enter the postseason. It doesn’t mean things can’t turn around this week in Durham, but a 6-5 run in the month of May isn’t necessarily the way championship runs begin.

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