Miami-Troy Preview: Canes Face Battle-Tested Sun Belt Opponent Tonight

The Miami Hurricanes baseball team’s postseason road to reaching Omaha for the first time in a decade begins tonight at 6 p.m.

It won’t be easy.

No. 1 seed regional host Florida will likely need to be dispatched at some point – the Gators are the No. 8 national seed and beat Miami in their only two meetings during the regular season. No. 2 seed Troy and No. 4 Rider round out the regional.

J.D. Arteaga Names Rob Evans Game 1 Starter as Miami Enters NCAA Tournament: `He’s The Best Matchup’

Task No. 1 is to close out Game 1 tonight (televised on ACC Network) with a win over a sneaky-good Trojans team that perhaps doesn’t have an impressive record at 32-29 overall and 17-13 in the Sun Belt … but has major wins and is ranked No. 35 in RPI by DI Baseball (Miami is 30th).

“It’s a good team, a good lineup,” coach J.D. Arteaga said of Troy. “They have a lot of different ways to beat you. Have to pitch, run bases, everything. It’s well-balanced team, well-coached team. They are not going to give you anything. We have to play good baseball.”

So just what is Miami up against tonight?

Well, this is a Troy 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.

Troy has only played Miami once in its history, a 12-4 loss in Atlanta in 1978

“We played our best baseball in May,” Troy coach Skylar Meade said. “We’re trying to win a national championship every year.”

The Trojans thrive on offense – 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.

“I mean, we definitely know who we’re going against,” Janicki said. “Florida, Miami, they’re great squads. They’ve got great players. … I think we’re better. I mean, I really do. We’ve got so much talent on this team, it’s actually insane. But, yeah, we’ve just got to stay mentally focused, physically focused and all healthy, and we’ll be good.”

Troy’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). Stubbs is expected to start tonight. 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).

The bottom line for UM entering Game 1 of regionals?

Just win.

“Scrappy lineup,” Miami game 1 starting pitcher Rob Evans said of Troy. “They find ways to get it done in many different aspects of the game. They have different ways of scoring on you. If you can block one, have to block another. So stay focused on what you can do.”