ANALYSIS: Breaking Down Miami’s Gainesville Regional Opponents

The Miami Hurricanes are seeking a return to Omaha for the first time in a decade. The first obstacle on the path back: Florida, Troy and Rider. The Canes learned today they are the No. 2 seed in the Gainesville regional, which means the team faces Troy in Game 1. No pitchers have been announced yet for that game, but Troy is no pushover – the team is ranked No. 35 in RPI by DI Baseball (which has Miami No. 30).

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So just what are the Canes up against if they are going to advance to Super Regionals, where UM would face the winner of the Hattiesburg regional?

Here’s a closer look at Miami’s three regional opponents:

NO. 1 SEED FLORIDA (No. 8 national seed, 39-19 record, 18-12 SEC)

The Gators, ranked No. 11 by DI Baseball and the No. 8 national seed, had won six in a row until falling to No. 7-ranked Georgia at the SEC Tournament (including upending No. 6 Alabama, 13-3). UF beat the Canes in the two early season meetings in Gainesville, and the Gators also beat common opponent FSU in midweek games, 6-3, 5-0 and 4-3. This is a team that just doesn’t have a lot of real weaknesses. The starting pitching is led by Friday night starter Aidan King (8-2, 2.68 ERA), Saturday starter Liam Peterson (3-5, 3.86 ERA) and Sunday starter Russell Sandefer (3-2, 4.38 ERA). The bullpen is solid behind Jackson Barberi (4-2, 2.41 ERA, 2 saves), Luke McNeillie (3-0, 3.58 ERA, 1 save), Ernesto Lugo-Canchola (1-0, 4.36 ERA, 1 save) and Joshua Whritenour (3-4, 4.45 ERA, 7 saves). Overall the team has a 4.16 ERA. At the plate Florida can do a lot of damage and has a .278 team batting average with 90 home runs. Leading the way is former Cane Blake Cyr (team high .338 average, 13 HRs), Ethan Surowiec (.328, 11 HRs), Caden McDonald (.316, 6 HRs), Brendan Lawson (.308, 16 HRs) and Kyle Jones (.305, 5 HRs).

NO. 3 SEED TROY (32-29 record, 17-13 Sun Belt)

Ranked No. 35 by DI Baseball (UM is No. 30), Miami’s first opponent certainly is not a pushover. This is a team that early in the year won at No. 3 national seed Georgia, 6-5, before later in the season falling to the Bulldogs 11-1. The team also split with No. 7 national seed Alabama, losing 7-3 and winning 6-1, and the Trojans also took one out of three games at No. 9 national seed Southern Miss during the regular season. In the conference championships Troy lost two of three vs. Southern Miss again (won 9-6, lost 7-6 and 6-2). In other words, Troy has played top competition and can hold its own depending on the game. This is a team that can score a lot of runs – overall Troy hits .285 with 78 home runs, and opponents have a 6.63 ERA. At the plate the team’s led by Conference Player of the Year C Jimmy Janicki (.350 average, team high 17 home runs and 73 RBI), All-Sun Belt First Team OF Aaron Piasecki (.338, 9 HRs), All-Sun Belt First Team pick Drew Nelson (.311, 5 HRs) and Steven Meier (.309, 9 HRs). Blake Cavill also brings power with 12 home runs, and he’s batting .278. Janicki is a guy Miami’s pitchers need to be very careful with, as one mistake could be costly. The team’s pitching is inconsistent, so perhaps that’s an area Miami can take advantage of. On the mound the Friday night starter is Benjamin Stubbs (4-3, 5.13 ERA), followed by Tommy Egan (5-4, 4.94 ERA) and Hayden Smith (4-0, 2.57 ERA). It has not yet been announced who Miami or Troy will pitch in Game 1 of regionals. The team’s relief pitching has been okay led by Zach Crotchfelt (5-2, 3.95 ERA, 24 appearances), Cooper Ellingsworth (1-4, 6.07 ERA, 27 appearances, 4 saves) and Dylan Alonso (4-3, 4.20 ERA, 25 appearances with four starts, 7 saves).

NO. 4 SEED RIDER (33-18 record, 22-8 MAAC)

Rider finished atop the MAAC in the regular season and won the conference tournament, earning the right to face Florida in Game 1 of regionals. This is a team used to playing a much different level of opponent, though – think Niagara, Monmouth, Fairfield and the like. The team does come in having won seven of its last eight. On the mound the starters are PJ Craig (9-3, 3.39 ERA) on Friday nights, Kyle Batt (4-5, 4.67 ERA) on Saturdays and Clayton Poliey (3-1, 5.61 ERA) on Sundays. The relief pitching is well spread out, and six different pitchers have saves … with none having more than two saves on the season. Key bullpen guys are Christian Aiello (8-2, 3.04 ERA, 20 appearances, 3 starts), Conner Flynn (2-2, 17 appearances, 3.96 ERA), Chris Montone (1-1, 19 appearances, 5.32 ERA) and Jake Dorety (1-1, 18 appearances, 5.33 ERA). At the plate the team hits .299 overall and has 51 home runs. The leaders are Kyle Neri (.352, 7 HRs), Charley Magoulick (.345, 9 HRs), Nick Shuhet (.343, 5 HRs), Anthony Paskell (.328, 6 HRs) and Erich Hartmann (.321, 6 HRs).