Finally, the way Miami drew it up. A Friday night showdown against a formidable opponent and the Canes finally brought the thunder. Solid pitching. Live bats. Minimized mistakes. The result; an 8-0 victory over the visiting, third-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels.
Eric Erickson was on the mound for UM, retiring eleven straight batters after giving up a first inning double. Erickson lasted seven innings, throwing ninety pitches, allowing four hits, walking none and striking out five.
Miami bats came alive on Friday night, to the tune of fourteen hits. The Canes picked up one in the first, two in the third, one in the fifth, one in the seventh and three more in the eighth.
Chantz Mack and Jarred Mederos each had three hits for UM, with Mack matching a career-high with three RBI, while Peter O’Brien hit his tenth home run of the season – a three-run shot in the eighth that blew the game wide open and ended the scoring.
The upset came on the heels of a mid-week loss to Central Florida. The Canes fell, 4-1 to the Knights, in a game where offensive struggles continued – to the point where players coaches called for a ‘hitters meeting’.
“We came to the park today ready to make a change,” said Mack. “Coach (Gino) DiMare said we had been leaving too many runners on. We had to start making those big hits.”
Not only did Miami lay a pasting on North Carolina, but it also pounded its ace Kent Emanuel, who entered Friday night’s contest with a 14-2 career record and was third-best in the ACC with a 1.59 ERA. Saturday night’s showdown will feature Eric Whaley against UNC’s Chris Munnelly.
In the grand scope of this season, what does an 8-0 beat down of North Carolina really mean? For much of the season, fans have been hard on head coach Jim Morris, going as far as calling for his firing.
Miami was swept by Florida early in the season, which kicked off the restlessness. From there, smaller roadblocks. A loss at Duke. Falling to Maryland with a chance to sweep. Then there were recent losses to Clemson and Central Florida.
All seems to have critics wondering, how can Miami beat down a highly-ranked North Carolina team two days after no-showing against Central Florida?
Pretty simple; a lack of maturity and execution. When it all comes together, Miami can hang with anybody. Conversely, when mentally checked out, when pitching fails, when bats go cold and errors mount, a pretty good team turns into a bad one and it’s hard to win games when failing fundamentally.
In short, not too much should be made of a win over North Carolina, nor should too much be made of an embarrassing loss to Central Florida. A win is a win, a loss is a loss and at this point of the season, there is still a ton of baseball left to be played.
Judge the 2012 Hurricanes – and this coaching staff – in June, not April. Miami deserves chances to ‘wow’ like it did on Friday night and as a fan. the feeling Thursday morning (after the 4-1 loss) compared to today’s sentiments – proof that there’s no reason to get too high or too low with the post-season still months out. Attempt to enjoy the ride.
Hopefully Friday night’s upset was something this squad can consider season-defining, even if it’s just from a motivational standpoint. Two more shots to take North Carolina out before a home game against Florida Gulf Coast and then a road trip to Virginia Tech next weekend.
I think UM beat UNC last year as well – and has had UNC’s number for the last couple years. UM just beat them 4-3 in extra innings on Saturday, so they take the series. We’ll see if this is a fluke or a true turning point. UM’s performance the past few years suggests that this is probably a fluke however. I look forward to being proven wrong (and hope to be so!)