It took a little longer than they would have liked, but the Miami Hurricanes' bats came alive to push them past Jackson State, 8-1.
The Canes (14-3, 2-1 ACC) struggled offensively early, but Adrian Del Castillo sparked a four-run fifth inning and never looked back. The victory over the Tigers (6-13, 1-2 SWAC) secured a midweek sweep of Jackson State to close out an 8-1 record over the nine-game homestand. It also tied the best start by the Hurricanes since opening the 2016 season 14-3.
"They threw some guys that our guys hadn't seen a lot of," head coach Gino DiMare said. "The velocity was not high. They were throwing a lot of junk at us and our guys struggled. It's not something we've practiced a lot of because we don't face a whole lot of it. Having said that, the fifth inning was huge.
Miami, who was held hitless for 4.1 innings, finally broke through with a big inning off lefty reliever Mario Lopez in the fifth. Del Castillo's RBI single to center was the first Hurricane hit of the night and it drove home Lala to put Miami ahead, 2-1. Alex Toral followed with his ninth home run of the season, a three-run bomb to right that gave the Canes a four-run lead, 5-1.
"I feel like hitting is contagious and once Del Castillo got that line drive to break it open to center field, it boosts the confidence for the next guy and that happened to be me," Toral said. "I happened to get my pitch and was able to do what I was able to do with it."
Del Castillo singled home another run in the sixth, smacking a two-out hit to right off reliever Garth Cahill that pushed home Lala and gave Miami a 6-1 lead. An inning later, Chad Crosbie added a two-out RBI single to right that gave the Hurricanes a 7-1 advantage.
"I was very happy with our bullpen the last two days," DiMare said. "It's something that we've had some question marks and concerns. Last night, Maury, Veliz and Fed all threw great and then you had Mixon come in and throw good and so did Gates. They pounded the strike zone, which is all I can ask of those guys, throw strikes, go after hitters, especially when you have leads and they did that. I was very, very happy with our bullpen."
Miami hits the road this weekend for an ACC series at North Carolina. The Hurricanes and Tar Heels will open the series on Friday at 6 p.m. Saturday's game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start, while Sunday's finale will begin at 1 p.m.
Let the competiton begin!
https://twitter.com/Manny_Navarro/status/1108088935979335688
Posted by: Go Canes!! | March 19, 2019 at 03:34 PM
It's about Darn Time. Let's Go Canes!
Posted by: Terrance Sullivan | March 19, 2019 at 04:02 PM
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We have a true QB competition here in Coral Gables. According to Manny Navarro, Martell's waiver was granted. According to Barry Jackson, Perry and Williams shined in the first day of Spring practice.
We also have a true OC and QB coach for the first time in a while. As Brevin Jordan said, this Enos offense will score a lot of points "from Game 1."
Let's go Canes!
Posted by: BigWindyCane1 | March 19, 2019 at 05:19 PM
Me and a friend of mine from here in Tennessee have a room booked and will be in Orlando for the spring game. Hope to see a ton of you spacers there.
Posted by: UMike | March 19, 2019 at 05:29 PM
UMike y'all coming to the UNC Game in Chapel Hill on Saturday September 7th. Hope to see y'all this year after missing y'all last year at GT in Atlanta because I caught the Flu.
Posted by: Terrance Sullivan | March 19, 2019 at 07:21 PM
https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article228141464.html
Posted by: thirstybuzzardcane | March 19, 2019 at 08:28 PM
TSully I think we will try. We had a good time at the UNC game a couple years ago and it's only 6 hours away and a beautiful drive.
Posted by: UMike | March 19, 2019 at 09:02 PM
Boom UMike it will be my first time there I can't wait. We should have a nice contingent of Canespace Family there.
Posted by: Terrance Sullivan | March 19, 2019 at 09:14 PM
We also have a true OC and QB coach for the first time in a while. As Brevin Jordan said, this Enos offense will score a lot of points "from Game 1."
Posted by: BigWindyCane1 | March 19, 2019 at 05:19 PM
Let it be written that on the 19th of March in the year 2019 it was determined by the powers of college football and confirmed by the bloggers at Canespace that the Miami Hurricanes football team will never lose another football game.
And so it is done.
Posted by: 86Cane | March 19, 2019 at 10:02 PM
NEW BLOG IS UP!
Posted by: 86Cane | March 19, 2019 at 10:39 PM