The Miami Hurricanes are 17-25 (10-13 ACC) after yet another loss. Miami’s only realistic remaining goal is to try and have a respectable end to the year, but the postseason is an impossibility for Miami. At eight games under .500 Miami simply doesn’t have enough time to make their record respectable.
Miami saw the return of their previous fielding woes tonight. Despite the scoreline, the Hurricanes had very strong starting pitching. Evan Mckendry did allow four runs, but two were unearned. Additionally the young starter had nine strikeouts in just six innings of work.
The struggles of the bullpen ultimately came back to haunt the Hurricanes in this one. They allowed six combined runs, although just two were earned. At the plate things weren’t much better for the visiting Hurricanes, who struck out ten times on the game. Their only offensive production came on a solo homerun from Ray Gil.
The Hurricanes were extremely sloppy in the infield, with four errors in this game alone. After a string of better play in the field they totally fell apart in this game, and it is the single biggest reason they lost the game. Just four of FSU’s ten runs were earned tonight, and yet another strong starting pitching performance was squandered by a group of position players who are underperforming at the plate and in the field.
This is the same story that has haunted the Hurricanes this season. Nearly nothing besides the pitching staff has shown any level of consistency from the beginning of this year. From the field, to the plate, to the ability of the coaching staff as a unit.
However, if there’s one thing that must be said, it’s this; NONE, exactly 0, blame is on Miami’s pitching staff for these struggles. Miami has been a Top 5 team in the ACC in pitching all season. They get great starts in nearly every game, and if they give up a lot of runs most are unearned. They’ve done their best to try to keep Miami in contention, but there’s only so much one position group can do to carry a team.
At this point we should all look back on the great times the Jim Morris era has given us, rather than focusing on this season. There’s not much of anything anyone can do to fix this season. It’s time to change the culture in Miami, and hopefully it starts next season.
Game Info
Winning Pitcher: C.J Van Eyk (2-0, 7.1 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 10 K)
Losing Pitcher: Evan McKendry (5-6, 6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 9 K)
Save: None
Box Score:
Next Game
Date & Time: Sunday, April 29, 1:00 PM
Hurricanes Starter: Andrew Cabezas (4-4, 4.30 ERA)
FSU Starter: Andrew Karp (7-3, 2.75 ERA)
Television: ACC Network Extra
Radio: WVUM 90.5 FM