Miami Hurricane, February 18, 2013

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4 BASEBALL SEASON PREVIEW THE MIAMI HURRICANE Feb. 18 - Feb. 20, 2013
It’s not quite the baby boomer gen-eration,
but there’s a youth movement
taking place in the Hurricanes dugout.
With a roster that features 12 fresh-men,
six sophomores, two transfers and
two starting pitchers that, before Satur-day,
had never made a collegiate start,
it was uncertain how the young guys on
the team would handle a bigger work-load.
With a series sweep over Rutgers
under their belts, the optimism has start-ed
turning into confidence.
Nine first-time Hurricanes took the
field over the weekend, with many of
them contributing to the team’s success
both offensively and defensively. Coach
Jim Morris expected big things from his
three new starting infielders, and was im-pressed
with their efforts.
“Lopez had a good day, he had
three hits. Our middle guys played good
solid defense. David Thompson got a big
hit for us. Hernandez has been very solid
for us,” Morris said. “Those are the three
rookies that we’ve had to play at this
point. I thought our hitting, we swung
a lot better in the second game. We’ve
got to try and put pressure, we’re not a
power team. We have to try and do some
things, hit and run.”
In the series against the Scarlet
Knights, Hernandez hit 3-8 for a .375
average with a hit in each game and an
RBI. Lopez reached base in all three of
his plate appearances during Saturday’s
first game and scored a run.
But perhaps most impressive has
been the addition of the heralded fresh-man
first baseman Thompson. Despite
only having two hits on the season, he
leads the team in RBIs with five, often
helping Miami score in little ways that
don’t show up on the scorecard.
After driving in a run on a ground-out
earlier in the third inning on Sunday,
Thompson hit a high popup to second
baseman Nick Favatella. What should
have been a routine out became more
important when Favatella lost the ball
in the sun. Thompson, rather than as-sume
he was out, charged safely towards
second base and would go on to score in
that inning.
“To be honest I was going to pinch
run for him,” Morris said of Thompson’s
tenacity. “I couldn’t find the heart to do
it after he busted it getting from home to
second on a popup. But the other guys,
they see that.”
Thompson admittedly felt a little
anxious prior to his first game, but he
was able to appreciate the moment.
“I was definitely a little nervous
at first, but it’s what I’ve dreamt of my
whole life growing up in Miami and see-ing
the Canes play. It’s a real blessing to
be able to come out and play with these
guys,” he said. “It felt good to produce
a little bit and hopefully keep driving in
some more runs.”
In all, six new Canes recorded their
first hit over the weekend.
Before the season started, the
weekend pitching rotation offered its
own share of challenges. With Bryan
Radziewski and Eric Whaley, the team’s
No. 1 and No. 2 pitchers, out due to in-jury,
the weekend responsibilities were
left to sophomore Chris Diaz, junior Javi
Salas and sophomore Andrew Suarez.
Diaz last season had primarily come
out of the bullpen and only had two ca-reer
starts to his name. Salas had the
most experience of the group, serving
as the team’s midweek starter for most
of the year. Suarez was making his first
start after recovering from surgery last
year.
Combined, the trio pitched 17 in-nings
of scoreless baseball over the week-end,
with 12 strikeouts and two unearned
runs given up over 14 hits, keeping the
staff’s ERA at a perfect 0.00.
“These young guys are getting their
feet wet playing more, pitchers and hit-ters,”
Morris said. “They’re only going
to get better and that’s what you got to
have. We’re going to be better pitch-ing
wise when we get [Radziewski] and
Whaley back in two to four weeks.”
Despite the top two guys being out,
Salas said it was going to be up to the
younger guys to get the job done until
they return.
“We don’t make any excuses. Right
now it’s the next guy up, and when
you’re called to do your job you got to do
your job. We all play the same game,” he
said. “We really miss B-Rad and Whal-ey,
and they’re going to be a big part of
the team when they’re healthy and back.
For right now, we just take the mentality
that we’re a little bit down, but we’re not
going to make any excuse. Those are two
horses that we’re missing, but we’re not
going to stop.”
Talented newcomers
prove key to success
BY ERNESTO SUAREZ
SPORTS EDITOR
Young players step up in
first series against Rutgers
BASEBALL
2013 SEASON
PREVIEW
WRITTEN BY SPORTS WRITER
COASTAL
ATLANTIC
VIRGINA TECH HOKIES
GEORGIA TECH YELLOWJACKETS
NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS
DUKE UNIVERSITY BLUE DEVILS
VIRGINIA CAVALIERS
FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES
CLEMSON TIGERS
BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES
NC STATE UNIVERSITY WOLFPACK
WAFE FOREST DEMON DEACONS
MARYLAND TERRAPINS
The Wolfpack made the Super Regionals a year ago, but must ad-dress
the loss of three of the team’s top four hitters. Carlos Rodon
will return aft er a show-stopping freshman campaign that earned
him All-American and Freshman Pitcher of the Year honors.
It's unlikely that fi rst-year coach Chris Pollard can recreate the
magic he pulled off at Appalachian State. Duke has a soft rota-tion
and little off ense. Junior catcher Mike Rosenfeld hit .312 last
season, and he will lead a lineup picked to fi nish in the ACC cellar.
North Carolina got tripped up on the national stage a year ago,
wasting a sparkling 46-16 record by losing in its regional. Colin Mo-ran,
the country's 2011 Freshman of the Year, leads a potent of-fense
that has a legitimate shot at a title.
The Terrapins are in rebuilding mode, and coach John Szefc
needs hitters even more than he needs another vowel in his
name. Maryland hasn't made the NCAA Tournament since 1971,
a streak that is likely to live another year.
Pitching is the biggest weakness for Boston College, which fi nished
10-20 in the ACC a year ago thanks to a 5.35 team ERA. If the staff
improves, the off ense might have just enough juice to reach the
postseason.
Tyler Horan could lead the conference in home runs, and the Hokies
will rely on his bat as the leader of a solid lineup in 2013. An inexperi-enced
group of pitchers is the question mark surrounding this Virginia
Tech team, which would otherwise be an NCAA Tournament lock.
Virginia has made two trips to the College World Series in the past
four years. Its talented core of experienced arms and consistent
hitters – including standout right fi elder Derek Fisher – should pro-pel
the Cavaliers to an impressive ACC record.
The Demon Deacons have completed the transition of Jack Fisch-er
from shortstop to starting pitcher, and he is now considered
Wake Forest's ace. He will need ample support to lift the team to
its fi rst NCAA Tournament since 2007.
Clemson is overshadowed by Florida State and N.C. State in the
Atlantic Division, as they lost three players in the fi rst 10 rounds
of the MLB Draft . That said, the Tigers would benefi t from several
freshman contributors and could be a competitive surprise.
The exciting march to the ACC Championship last year means
Georgia Tech won't fl y under the radar this season. Slugger
Brandon Thomas and starter Buck Farmer decided to make
another run at Omaha rather than leave early for the MLB.
Florida State made it into most preseason top 25 polls, riding the
momentum from last year's World Series appearance. The batting
order is thin, but pitching will be stable as this squad looks to pull
ahead in the conference and improve on last year’s trip to Omaha.
WRITTEN BY SPENCER DANDES