Miami vs Florida baseball? Let’s get it! The 21st ranked Miami Hurricanes start their season this Friday and will be taking on the No.1 ranked Florida Gators. This game will also be the unveiling of the Gators’ new stadium. The Gators are currently on a 5 game win streak against the Canes.
Captain Daniel Federman will be on the bump this Friday as the ace and will be followed by two freshmen for the next two games. Coming into the season Miami is a top 25 team that has been ranked as high as 6th in the preseason poll.
Miami natives Adrian Del Castillo and Alex Toral have been named preseason All-Americans and have been added to the Golden Spikes Award preseason watch list. The Canes were also voted 1st to win the ACC by other ACC coaches before the season.
Miami’s first series is going to be their toughest if not one of the toughest on their schedule. The Gators have put together one of the most complete rosters we have seen. Gators ace Tommy Mace will be starting this Friday and plans to shut out the canes.
Gators Pitching
Last year Mace threw seven innings allowing just one earned run and striking out eight. Mace is definitely hoping to mimic that performance this friday against one of the deepest lineups in the country.
Gators Offense
Florida’s offense is led by two preseason All-SEC selections known as outfielder Jud Fabian and shortstop Josh Rivera. Fabian last season batted .294 with 20 hits, 5 homeruns and 19 runs. He hit the game-tying two RBI against then No.1 Miami.
Rivera started 16 games at shortstop and hit .298 with 17 hits 12 runs. Aside from these two the gators have a lot more depth in the lineup. They have 3 returning players that were responsible for hitting over .300 last season.
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Canes Pitching
Miami’s hitting has been in good form the last couple of years but it’s the pitching that has given them their ups and downs. Daniel Federman is going to come out the gates hot. He will be utilizing his fastball and then his offspeed to mess with the hitters’ timing.
His freshman year Federman started four mid-week games and had a 2-4 record with a great 1.75 ERA. This year we have two talented freshmen that will be starting on the bump Saturday and Sunday.
Both Miami Natives Alejandro Rosario and Victor Mederos plan to be at least three-year members of the team. Rosario will be looking to use his mid to high 90’s fastball while Mederos will be using his offspeed a lot.
Canes Hitting
The Hurricanes offense will face a tough challenge as they take on probably the best starting rotation in the country. Del Castillo leads the hurricanes lineup and is a contender for ACC player of the year. He has a career batting average of .336 with 87 RBI’s and only 32 strikeouts.
Teammate Alex Toral is expected to lead the ACC in home runs. During his sophomore season, he had a .293 batting average with 24 home runs. Freshman Yohandy Morales is a key piece in this series as he may need to take over third base as Raymond Gil returns from a hand injury.
Miami vs Florida Baseball Pick
This weekend we will see a series matchup between two plans who plan to meet in Omaha. This is going to be a hard-fought match and the winner will be making a statement at the beginning of the season. Being a Cane this hurts me, to say the least, but I think the Gators will take the series 2-1 due to their depth of pitching.
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