The Gino DiMare era has gotten off to a fantastic start. Miami is off to their first 3-0 start since 2016, and they beat Rutgers by a combined score of 35-7 in order to do so. Miami put together a great weekend all over the field, and it continued on Sunday.
Before the game Miami revealed a brand new “Stormtrooper” uniform, and boy does it look nice:
❕⚪️❕⚪️❕⚪️ pic.twitter.com/wNXtYvlzUx
— Canes Baseball (@CanesBaseball) February 17, 2019
The game started out as a pitchers duel. Brian Van Belle pitched well in his first start for Miami. Coach DiMare said that, “early on [Van Belle] was lucky... being up in the zone is not a good thing... but then he settled in and threw really good for us.” Van Belle threw six innings of scoreless baseball for the ‘Canes. He went right after Rutgers hitters, kept his pitch count down, and allowed Miami to go straight to their set-up man Daniel Federman.
Rutgers starter Tevin Murray kept pace with Van Belle at first, but in the bottom of the third he allowed a two out rally that gave Miami the lead. Tony Jenkins started the rally with a double to right field, and he was driven in by Anthony Vilar, who went four for four on the day, when the freshman drove a double of his own. Vilar then scored after Carmen Sclafani sailed a ball over Chris Brito’s head at first base. After three Miami led 2-0 and never looked back.
Miami added a run in both the fifth and the sixth. In the fifth the Hurricanes loaded the bases off of a single, a walk, and a hit by pitch. With Alex Toral at the plate Tevin Murray threw a wild pitch that allowed the runner to score from third. In the sixth the ‘Canes scored with some incredible baserunning. Jordan Lala singled and then stole second, and Chet Moore hit a chopper to the shortstop that he beat out. It was a tight play at first, and Lala was aggressive and scored while Chris Brito looked for the call from the first base umpire. It was an amazingly intelligent play from a freshman, and it made the game 4-0 Miami through six.
Daniel Federman came into the game in relief in the seventh inning and gave up a run when Peter Serruto knocked a single into centerfield for the first RBI of his career. However, Miami responded with a run of their own in the seventh. Anthony Vilar knocked his second double of the day to leadoff the inning, and Adrian Del Castillo worked a long at-bat and was rewarded with an RBI single that pushed the Hurricanes’ lead back out to four runs.
Daniel Federman really struggled in the top of the eighth inning. He allowed the Scarlet Knights’ first two batters on base in the inning, and Chris Brito took advantage by knocking an RBI single into centerfield. Federman got a strikeout for the first out of the inning, and got the second on a slow grounder to second that the Hurricanes couldn’t turn into a double play, which allowed the runner from third to score. He managed to stop the bleeding after that, and heading to the bottom of the eighth the score stood at 5-3 Hurricanes.
Miami blew the game open in the bottom of the eighth. A walk and a single started the inning off for the ‘Canes, and Miami scored their sixth run of the afternoon when Chris Brito was pulled off the bag by a high throw and Luis Tuero scored with heads-up baserunning. Anthony Vilar drilled a single that gave Miami two men on yet again, and Freddy Zamora walked to load the bases for Adrian Del Castillo. Del Castillo continued his great day at the plate and drove a two-run double over the head of the Rutgers centerfielder. Willy Escala walked to load the bases yet again, and a wild pitch scored Miami’s ninth, and final, run of the afternoon.
In the top of the ninth Tyler Keysor worked around two hits to close out the game for Miami, and the Hurricanes got their first sweep of the season. Miami has gotten off to a very fast start this season, and they’ll look to continue their success in the tough week ahead of them.
Game Info:
Winning Pitcher: Brian Van Belle (1-0, 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K)
Losing Pitcher: Tevin Murray (0-1, 4.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K)
Save: None
Box Score:
Next Game
Vs FAU (3-0)
Date & Time: Wednesday, February 20, 6:00 P.M. Eastern
Hurricanes Starter: Not Announced (Greg Veliz or Slade Cecconi)
FAU Starter: Not Announced
Radio: WVUM 90.5 FM
Television: ACC Network Extra