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You Always Remember Your First Time

The University of Miami football program was mired in mediocrity for the longest time. Previous coaches names Tate, Curci, Elliott, Selmer and Saban tried to make it work but couldn't get it done.

And then, all of a sudden, it happened.

Along came a coach with a really long last name that was really hard to spell.

That name was Schnellenberger.

That name changed everything that has to do with University of Miami football.

That name changed my life. And most likely yours too if you are reading this.

He coached guys named Kelly, Kosar and Testaverde who made Miami QB U.

Most importantly, he brought us our first National Championship in 1983.

To Schnellenberger we owe our history, our fandom and our incredible success.

There is only one first time. In any thing, at any time. Howard was that guy.

Howard Schellenerger gave us a dream that lives on and that's all because of that pipe smoking, tie wearing, bear of a man.

And for that we will forever and eternally be grateful.

Thanks Howard and rest in peace.

Seminoles Spear Hurricanes

The No. 5 Canes fell to Florida State, 13-1, in the opening contest of this weekend’s three-game set at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.

“It is one game. We’ve got to be able to turn the page and get right back at it,” head coach Gino DiMare said. “The opening game against NC State, we played the worst game of the year, I think, and then we came back and were able to turn it around. We have lost the opening game of the series but were still able to come back. It’s just one of those things. It’s tough when you fall that far behind. Their pitcher is good and we knew he was going to be tough. You’re kind of in an uphill battle.:

The game got off to a tough start for the Hurricanes (9-5, 5-4 ACC), as the Seminoles put together a three-run rally in the opening inning against starter Alejandro Rosario. The runs snapped a 14-inning home scoreless streak for the true freshman, who entered the game with a 2-0 record and a 0.00 ERA at Mark Light Field.

“It was his worst outing as a Cane and his balls were up,” DiMare said of Rosario. “I think his composure maybe, too. He didn’t settle down and he was a little hyped up when they got some runs on him, big runs there. He’s got to learn from this experience and understand that he’s got to make adjustments, and he’s got to be able to relax and pitch.”

“They played good defense when they had to make plays and they swung the bat,” DiMare said. “We didn’t play well. They executed everything they did. Drag bunts, moved guys over, scored with less than two outs and a man on third, they double cut and they threw us out there on a big play. Everything on our side, we couldn’t execute double cuts, we were throwing balls around, dropping them, letting them on the ground, letting guys take extra bases and didn’t play good defense and obviously didn’t swing the bat well. FSU, I thought played very well and we just didn’t play. So, we’ve got to turn the page and be ready to go tomorrow. Still can win the series. Baseball is a crazy game. We’ve got to be mentally tough to be able to turn the page.”

The Seminoles (8-6, 5-5 ACC) continued their success against Rosario in the second, plating four more runs before DiMare called for right-hander Jordan Dubberly out of Miami’s bullpen with runners on second and third and one out. Crowell hit a sacrifice fly to push home Nelson, capping a five-run second.

“I expect him to be fine,” DiMare said of Rosario. “This is part of baseball. He’s not going to go out every outing and dominate. That’s just not how it works. I expect him to be fine. He’s still our guy. I think this is a very good learning experience for him, and moving forward, he’ll be our guy next week on Friday.”

Read more at hurricanesports.com

Canes Crash ACC Party

The University of Miami men’s basketball team edged Pittsburgh, 79-73, Tuesday afternoon at the Greensboro Coliseum to begin ACC Tournament action.

The No. 13-seeded Hurricanes, despite playing with only six available scholarship student-athletes, used a balanced scoring attack to defeat the No. 12-seeded Panthers. All five starters scored 12-plus points, led by 20 from sophomore guard Isaiah Wong.

“I’m just really proud of our guys for the energy and effort they brought to the game,” Miami head coach Jim Larrañaga said. “They played with a great deal of confidence. They executed the game plan extremely well. Probably the most impressive thing is they shared the ball so well; we scored 79 points and had 17 assists, which really hasn’t been there all year.”

The Hurricanes used a 19-7 run during which they made 7-of-10 field goals to take a seven-point lead, 31-24, with 4:04 remaining in the first half. Pittsburgh (10-12, 6-10 ACC) pulled back within two, but a jump-shot by Wong in the closing seconds gave Miami (9-16, 4-15 ACC) a 40-36 edge at the break.

Both sides shot well from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes, with the Panthers posting a 6-of-14 (42.9 percent) mark, including a 3-of-4 clip from senior guard Nike Sibande, and the Hurricanes notching 5-of-13 (38.5 percent).

Early in the second half, Pittsburgh went on a 16-8 run during which it made three 3-pointers in under three minutes, to take the lead, 55-52 with 11:42 to play. Miami answered right back with a 10-3 burst to go in front, 62-58, with 5:33 remaining, but the Panthers surged back 66-64, with 3:36 on the clock.

Once again, though, the Hurricanes countered. Miami scored nine straight points—three each from Wong, redshirt senior center Nysier Brooks and redshirt senior guard Kameron McGusty—and took a game-high seven-point advantage, 73-66, with just 55 seconds to play.

The Panthers did not get any closer than four down the stretch, as Miami held on for the victory. The Hurricanes made five of their seven field-goal attempts and Wong connected on four straight free throws in the last 30 seconds.

Wong, who now co-leads the ACC with 10 20-point games, shot 9-of-10 from the stripe setting a new season high and finishing one shy of his top mark in attempts. Sophomore forward Anthony Walker posted 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds in a career-best 39 minutes, while McGusty also notched 14 points. All of them dished out four assists, tying a career high for Walker.

Senior guard Elijah Olaniyi also recorded 14 points, adding six rebounds and a season-high-tying three assists, while Brooks finished with 12 points and a career-high-tying three steals.

“All five starters really executed their role extremely well,” Larra؜ñaga said. “We got some good interior baskets from Nysier Brooks and Anthony Walker. We had some nice threes from Kam, Isaiah and Elijah.”

Freshman guard Femi Odukale paced the Panthers with a career-high 28 points. He shot 11-of-16 from the floor, including 4-of-8 from deep. Sibande finished with a season-best 24 points, logging a 9-of-15 clip from the field and a 5-of-8 mark beyond the arc. Redshirt sophomore guard Ithiel Horton added 10 points.

Sophomore forward Justin Champagnie, a First Team All-ACC performer who is second in the ACC in scoring and first in rebounding, totaled 10 points and 11 rebounds. However, Miami held him to just 5-of-20 shooting, including 1-of-8 on 3-pointers. He made just three of his first 17 attempts through 37 minutes.

“You’ve got to give Anthony Walker a lot of credit because he was really the only one that guarded him,” Larrañaga said. “Justin Chanmpagnie is a dynamic player offensively. He can do a lot of different things. He’s a terrific offensive rebounder, but today was not his today. Today was our day.”

Free-throw shooting proved to be the difference in the game, as Miami finished 22-of-28 (78.6 percent) to tie a season best in makes. The Hurricanes made 11 of their first 12 attempts from the line. Meanwhile, the Panthers registered a 5-of-14 (35.7 percent) mark at the stripe after opening just 1-of-6.

In addition, Miami had 17 assists, its second-most ever in an ACC Tournament outing, and just six turnovers, while Pittsburgh notched nine assists and 14 turnovers. The Hurricanes logged a 22-6 edge in points off giveaways, as well as 19-4 cushion in fast-break points.

Miami now takes on fifth-seeded Clemson Wednesday at 2:30 p.m., live on ACC Network from the Greensboro Coliseum, in the second round of the ACC Tournament.

To keep up with the University of Miami men’s basketball team on social media, follow @CanesHoops on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Canes Come Back On Wolfpack

The Miami Hurricanes were in a familiar situation Saturday and a familiar name helped the Canes take the lead for good inside Doak Field at Dail Park.

Christian Del Castillo’s RBI groundout in the top of the eighth gave Miami (4-4, 2-3 ACC) its third and final lead of the day, helping the Hurricanes even the series at NC State (4-5, 1-4 ACC) with a 6-4 victory.

“The season has got so many ups and downs, you’d have to get to the end to see if this is a turning point for us,” head coach Gino DiMare said. “We certainly hope it is in a positive manner because that means the rest of the season is going to go well and we’ve learned and we’ve grown and we’ve matured. Bottom line is it’s one game. It feels a lot better because we played a lot better than yesterday, but we’ve got to be ready to play tomorrow. This means nothing if we come out and don’t play well tomorrow.”

With the game tied at 4, Yohandy Morales led off the top of the eighth with a ground-rule double to right. The true freshman advanced to third on a wild pitch and Miami had runners at the corners when lefty Canaan Smith walked Alex Toral with one out in the inning.

After an incredible play by first baseman Austin Murr to retire Del Castillo, Morales evaded the tag at the plate to snap the stalemate and out Miami ahead, 5-4.

“I was just staying confident up in the box, trying to hit the ball hard,” Del Castillo said. “I was pumped up when I saw Yoyo scored. That was a huge run to get ahead and brought some more energy to the team.”

Miami turned to closer Carson Palmquist to protect the one-run lead and the lefty pitched out of a jam, stranding a pair of base runners after snaring a J.T. Jarrett line drive up the middle to end the eighth.

“I’m just going out there and being confident and believing in myself and the eight other guys on the field with me,” Palmquist said. “It was a huge win for us. We were down bad yesterday and this team battled back We never call it quits and that showed today.”

True freshman CJ Kayfus picked a great time to get his first career hit, smoking a leadoff solo homer to left-center off Wolfpack reliever Dalton Feeney that gave the Hurricanes some breathing room, 6-4, and Palmquist retired the side in order to earn his third save of the season.

“I was trying to stay within myself and let everything happen on its own,” Kayfus said. “I was planning on attacking early on in the at-bat, so I got excited seeing the first pitch fastball. After hitting it I thought, ‘This might have a chance to get out’ and it did.”

Much like Friday’s series opener, Jordan Lala led off the game with a hit-by-pitch and came around to score to get the Hurricanes on the scoreboard in the first inning for the sixth consecutive game. After Lala scored on a Morales groundout, Adrian Del Castillo had an RBI single to right that sent home Anthony Vilar to make it 2-0 in favor of the Hurricanes.

“Yoyo is hitting in an obviously important spot for us there in the three hole,” DiMare said. “That was a big at-bat where he battled and it went to two strikes there and he put the ball in play up the middle, and it not only knocked in the run but it moved the runner over for Del coming up and then he gets the line drive hit. That was great situational hitting, good job by the guys in front of them to get on base. We’ve been great out of the gate in the first inning. I wish we could duplicate the first inning every inning, that’d be great.”

“I thought Jake did a solid job,” DiMare said. “He should have gotten out of the inning there. He got the ground ball for a double play. Anthony [Arguelles] did a great job because he’s had a couple iffy outings and that was a great job to come out and do that. That’s what we need from those guys. Let’s see if we can get some consistency. The whole thing in our sport is being consistent, get a consistent team out there that can play every day and be consistent.”

Miami and NC State will close out the weekend series Sunday, beginning at 1 p.m. True freshman Victor Mederos will make his third collegiate start for the Canes opposite NC State right-hander Matt Willadsen.

From hurricanesports.com. Read more there on UM baseball.