Miami baseball was back in action this past week and it was a week that saw some good things and some struggles. Here is the recap of the week complete with key moments, stats, and where Miami can improve upon as we move forward with the season.
Mid-Week-Miami vs. FAU
The big issue for Mediavilla is consistency of strikes. When he throws strikes, he tends to avoid the big inning that has plagued him as a starter, but he struggled with strikes from the beginning, giving up four runs. Miami would battle back and have their opportunities, but ultimately fell short by a score of 5-4.
Game one-
This game featured two pitchers who were on top of their games from the beginning. Maine’s starter allowed only one hit and didn’t allow that hit until the 6th inning. Bargfeldt was a little more hittable with six hits allowed but allowed only one walk to limit the damage. Romy's first HR of the season broke the scoreless tie and gave the Canes a 1-0 lead in what looked like a game they were going to win. The 8th inning for Maine changed that quickly and they would go on to score four runs and effectively put it out of reach.
Key Plays-
Bottom 4th and Miami gets back-to-back one out walks. A strikeout and a flyout on the first pitch ends the threat.
Top of 6th an infield single and a single to left field put two on no outs. Maine bunts and Bargfeldt nails the lead runner at 3B. Another grounder to Bargfeldt who again gets the lead runner. No damage.
Romy HR bottom 6.
The Maine 8th inning was excruciating. The leadoff hitter singled to LF on a 1-2 pitch. The next batter strikes out trying to bunt. Hammond relieved Bargfeldt and got an easy groundout to 1B. Cabezas had nothing in this game and couldn’t throw strikes. Walk/Hit ties the game with two outs. Next a HBP, then a walk forced home the go-ahead run. A two-run single on a 3-2 count effectively put the game out of reach. All runs scoring with two outs off of your top reliever is tough to swallow.
Game two-
One of the craziest games I have ever watched, Miami got a much-needed and hard-fought win 7-6 in 15 innings.
Key Plays-
Buckle Up. Back-to-back hits but a promising inning was setback by a double play off the bat of Romy. Perez was hit by a pitch and then a wild pitch moved the runners over. Hunter Tackett struck out to end the threat.
Maine gets a cheap run on a wild pitch with two outs.
Walk/Fly Out/Walk and a wild pitch. Perez battled and got a sac fly to tie the score up.
A lineout with two outs and two in scoring position ended a Maine threat in the 4th. That’s one of those plays that goes your way with defensive positioning and throwing strikes.
As has been a season long trend for Miami, the bottom of the 4th was marred by missed chances. Zamora was hit by a pitch and Toral singled after him on the first pitch (Toral is our most prolific first pitch swinger by a good margin). Escala singled to LF to load them up with no outs. Quinones fouled out on a full count, Burns struck out on a full count, Cloonan grounded out on a hard-hit ball. No runs.
In the 6th Miami got the first two outs quickly, but a two out single and then another walk put a runner in scoring position. As Maine has been wont to do in this series, they came up with a big two-out hit to take the lead 2-1.
Bot 6 and Miami took the lead. After a one-hit by pitch and subsequent walk, Maine went to the bullpen and Cloonan had a great at-bat and took a walk to load them up (walks are good). Romy grounded out to score a run and a big two-out hit by Michael Perez gave Miami the lead 3-2.
Top 8 and Maine had a great scoring chance. A leadoff single and stolen base put a runner at 2B with no outs. A bunt moved the runner to 3B with just one outs, but Hammond got a pair of ground outs to end the threat.
Bot 8 and a leadoff walk to Burns set the stage for an insurance run. Cloonan bunted the runner over and Romy singled him in. He was caught stealing, which was a big play because Perez tripled and that would’ve scored a run.
Cabezas came on for the 9th inning and things started great with two quick strikeouts. Then the walks came. Back to-back walks for Cabezas put the tying run on base. In order for Miami to take the next step this year, the walks are going to have to come down for Cabezas. Giving up a bit more contact is a great exchange for giving up frequent walks. The next batter hit a double down the 1B line and both runners scored to tie the game.
I’ve mentioned a frequent trend for Miami and stranding runners on 3B with less than two outs and they do it again in the bottom of the 9th. Zamora doubled off the wall and then went to 3B on a passed ball with no outs. Alex Toral got ahead in the count 2-1 but never swung the bat and watched strike three when most contact would score the speedy Zamora. Escala joined Toral in striking out looking but at least he swung the bat twice. Quinones walked and then Burns joined the K parade to end the inning.
Top 11 and Maine gets another big hit with a runner in scoring position, this time on an 0-2 count but Burns did an excellent job charging the ball and throwing out the runner at home.
Bot 13 and Jenkins walked to leadoff. Zamora bunts him to 2B and Toral strikes out looking without swinging the bat again. He’s a bit of a conundrum in that he leads the team in first pitch swinging by far, but also has struck out looking without swinging the bat in two big situations in a row. Escala walks, but Jenkins inexplicably is caught napping at 2B and the C picks him off.
Maine gets a leadoff single, ground out and single to take a 5-4 lead in the top of 14th.
Miami gets the first career hit for freshman catcher Quinones to lead off the 14th (a double). Burns walks and Cloonan singles to CF and the pinch runner must’ve had a bad read on the ball because it was a hit all the way but he was late in going. He is thrown out at home on a very close call, where the C didn’t appear to tag him and he didn’t appear to touch home plate. A wild pitch brings home the tying run and we keep playing baseball because both Gabe Rivera and Raymond Gil struck out looking to leave a runner in scoring position. Gil swung the bat once, otherwise the two hitters combined to take five strikes looking with the game on the line.
Top 15 and a walk and a single put two on with one out. Daniel Epstein came into pitch and Dylan Cloonan moved back to RF from the mound. After a popup, a wild pitch moved the runners to 2B & 3B. As the runner was going to 3B the new catcher who had come into the game because Quinones was pinch ran for throws a seed to 3B but the freshman Gil doesn’t cover the base and the ball skips into LF to allow the run to score. 6-5 Maine.
Bot 15 and Jenkins had a swinging bunt to reach 1B and then advanced on a wild pitch. Zamora doubled to score Jenkins and Toral swings at the first pitch and gets a hit to RF to score Zamora and end one crazy game. Gabe Rivera had his first career at-bat, Joe Sparber saw his first career action, and Daniel Epstein picked up his first career win.
Game Three-
Things were less eventful on Sunday as Miami won the game 6-1, but there was a lot more stress than the score would indicate as Miami squandered several scoring chances early in the game before finally denting the scoreboard in the 4th inning after Maine had score in the top of the 1st.
Key Plays-
Top of the 1st a hit batsmen, single, walk, infield single scored a run. Maine 1-0.
Bot 2nd and Miami had a single, walk, double-steal, walk to load the bases with one out (great at bat by Escala). Quinones struck out swinging and Jenkins grounded out to end the threat.
Bot 4 and Miami started a two-out rally. Escala singled into the hole at SS then stole 2B & 3B with two outs. Quinones then walked. Jenkins tripled a hard-hit ball into the LF corner and the Canes took a 2-1 lead.
Bot 5 and again a walk propelled Miami to a big inning. Cloonan walked to leadoff the inning and was bunted to 2B. Perez walked to put runners on 1st and 2nd. Zamora was hit by a pitch to load them up. Toral singled on the first pitch he saw to score a run and force a pitching change. Escala struck out swinging and Quinones cleared the bases with a double to make it 6-1.
Top 6, Maine was nothing if not scrappy. They led off the inning with a pair of singles and McKendry bared down and struck out the side in his last inning of work. McKendry has been a true ace to start the season with at least 8 K’s in all three starts.
Mediavilla relieving is noteworthy because that signals that he isn’t going to be the midweek starter this week. He was effective in his two innings of work and Hammond closed the door without incident.
Key Stats-
Overall it was a 2-2 week for Miami after originally being scheduled for five games. Travel issues caused the shortening of the series with Maine from four to three games.
It looked as though Miami’s offense is starting to come around. The inability to execute in certain situations prevented Miami from scoring several more runs over this four-game stretch. As a team they hit .231/.409/.354. The OBP is outstanding, and it will correlate to runs in the future, but only if more contact is made.
Miami struck out 44 times in the four games. 28 walks/12 HBP helped balance that out, but more contact is definitely required moving forward.
Zamora had a huge week, putting up a .417/.533/.583 line in the four games. Quinones was another bright spot, reaching base 8 times out of 15 plate appearances. Cloonan looks to be another hitter who understands what he’s doing at the plate as he had several good at bats and got on-base often.
Up next is a road game with FIU who is 5-6 and lost two out of three against Jacksonville State this past weekend. Then the Canes open up ACC play against Notre Dame, who is much improved this year at 6-4 with a series win at LSU.
Mid-Week-Miami vs. FAU
The big issue for Mediavilla is consistency of strikes. When he throws strikes, he tends to avoid the big inning that has plagued him as a starter, but he struggled with strikes from the beginning, giving up four runs. Miami would battle back and have their opportunities, but ultimately fell short by a score of 5-4.
Game one-
This game featured two pitchers who were on top of their games from the beginning. Maine’s starter allowed only one hit and didn’t allow that hit until the 6th inning. Bargfeldt was a little more hittable with six hits allowed but allowed only one walk to limit the damage. Romy's first HR of the season broke the scoreless tie and gave the Canes a 1-0 lead in what looked like a game they were going to win. The 8th inning for Maine changed that quickly and they would go on to score four runs and effectively put it out of reach.
Key Plays-
Bottom 4th and Miami gets back-to-back one out walks. A strikeout and a flyout on the first pitch ends the threat.
Top of 6th an infield single and a single to left field put two on no outs. Maine bunts and Bargfeldt nails the lead runner at 3B. Another grounder to Bargfeldt who again gets the lead runner. No damage.
Romy HR bottom 6.
The Maine 8th inning was excruciating. The leadoff hitter singled to LF on a 1-2 pitch. The next batter strikes out trying to bunt. Hammond relieved Bargfeldt and got an easy groundout to 1B. Cabezas had nothing in this game and couldn’t throw strikes. Walk/Hit ties the game with two outs. Next a HBP, then a walk forced home the go-ahead run. A two-run single on a 3-2 count effectively put the game out of reach. All runs scoring with two outs off of your top reliever is tough to swallow.
Game two-
One of the craziest games I have ever watched, Miami got a much-needed and hard-fought win 7-6 in 15 innings.
Key Plays-
Buckle Up. Back-to-back hits but a promising inning was setback by a double play off the bat of Romy. Perez was hit by a pitch and then a wild pitch moved the runners over. Hunter Tackett struck out to end the threat.
Maine gets a cheap run on a wild pitch with two outs.
Walk/Fly Out/Walk and a wild pitch. Perez battled and got a sac fly to tie the score up.
A lineout with two outs and two in scoring position ended a Maine threat in the 4th. That’s one of those plays that goes your way with defensive positioning and throwing strikes.
As has been a season long trend for Miami, the bottom of the 4th was marred by missed chances. Zamora was hit by a pitch and Toral singled after him on the first pitch (Toral is our most prolific first pitch swinger by a good margin). Escala singled to LF to load them up with no outs. Quinones fouled out on a full count, Burns struck out on a full count, Cloonan grounded out on a hard-hit ball. No runs.
In the 6th Miami got the first two outs quickly, but a two out single and then another walk put a runner in scoring position. As Maine has been wont to do in this series, they came up with a big two-out hit to take the lead 2-1.
Bot 6 and Miami took the lead. After a one-hit by pitch and subsequent walk, Maine went to the bullpen and Cloonan had a great at-bat and took a walk to load them up (walks are good). Romy grounded out to score a run and a big two-out hit by Michael Perez gave Miami the lead 3-2.
Top 8 and Maine had a great scoring chance. A leadoff single and stolen base put a runner at 2B with no outs. A bunt moved the runner to 3B with just one outs, but Hammond got a pair of ground outs to end the threat.
Bot 8 and a leadoff walk to Burns set the stage for an insurance run. Cloonan bunted the runner over and Romy singled him in. He was caught stealing, which was a big play because Perez tripled and that would’ve scored a run.
Cabezas came on for the 9th inning and things started great with two quick strikeouts. Then the walks came. Back to-back walks for Cabezas put the tying run on base. In order for Miami to take the next step this year, the walks are going to have to come down for Cabezas. Giving up a bit more contact is a great exchange for giving up frequent walks. The next batter hit a double down the 1B line and both runners scored to tie the game.
I’ve mentioned a frequent trend for Miami and stranding runners on 3B with less than two outs and they do it again in the bottom of the 9th. Zamora doubled off the wall and then went to 3B on a passed ball with no outs. Alex Toral got ahead in the count 2-1 but never swung the bat and watched strike three when most contact would score the speedy Zamora. Escala joined Toral in striking out looking but at least he swung the bat twice. Quinones walked and then Burns joined the K parade to end the inning.
Top 11 and Maine gets another big hit with a runner in scoring position, this time on an 0-2 count but Burns did an excellent job charging the ball and throwing out the runner at home.
Bot 13 and Jenkins walked to leadoff. Zamora bunts him to 2B and Toral strikes out looking without swinging the bat again. He’s a bit of a conundrum in that he leads the team in first pitch swinging by far, but also has struck out looking without swinging the bat in two big situations in a row. Escala walks, but Jenkins inexplicably is caught napping at 2B and the C picks him off.
Maine gets a leadoff single, ground out and single to take a 5-4 lead in the top of 14th.
Miami gets the first career hit for freshman catcher Quinones to lead off the 14th (a double). Burns walks and Cloonan singles to CF and the pinch runner must’ve had a bad read on the ball because it was a hit all the way but he was late in going. He is thrown out at home on a very close call, where the C didn’t appear to tag him and he didn’t appear to touch home plate. A wild pitch brings home the tying run and we keep playing baseball because both Gabe Rivera and Raymond Gil struck out looking to leave a runner in scoring position. Gil swung the bat once, otherwise the two hitters combined to take five strikes looking with the game on the line.
Top 15 and a walk and a single put two on with one out. Daniel Epstein came into pitch and Dylan Cloonan moved back to RF from the mound. After a popup, a wild pitch moved the runners to 2B & 3B. As the runner was going to 3B the new catcher who had come into the game because Quinones was pinch ran for throws a seed to 3B but the freshman Gil doesn’t cover the base and the ball skips into LF to allow the run to score. 6-5 Maine.
Bot 15 and Jenkins had a swinging bunt to reach 1B and then advanced on a wild pitch. Zamora doubled to score Jenkins and Toral swings at the first pitch and gets a hit to RF to score Zamora and end one crazy game. Gabe Rivera had his first career at-bat, Joe Sparber saw his first career action, and Daniel Epstein picked up his first career win.
Game Three-
Things were less eventful on Sunday as Miami won the game 6-1, but there was a lot more stress than the score would indicate as Miami squandered several scoring chances early in the game before finally denting the scoreboard in the 4th inning after Maine had score in the top of the 1st.
Key Plays-
Top of the 1st a hit batsmen, single, walk, infield single scored a run. Maine 1-0.
Bot 2nd and Miami had a single, walk, double-steal, walk to load the bases with one out (great at bat by Escala). Quinones struck out swinging and Jenkins grounded out to end the threat.
Bot 4 and Miami started a two-out rally. Escala singled into the hole at SS then stole 2B & 3B with two outs. Quinones then walked. Jenkins tripled a hard-hit ball into the LF corner and the Canes took a 2-1 lead.
Bot 5 and again a walk propelled Miami to a big inning. Cloonan walked to leadoff the inning and was bunted to 2B. Perez walked to put runners on 1st and 2nd. Zamora was hit by a pitch to load them up. Toral singled on the first pitch he saw to score a run and force a pitching change. Escala struck out swinging and Quinones cleared the bases with a double to make it 6-1.
Top 6, Maine was nothing if not scrappy. They led off the inning with a pair of singles and McKendry bared down and struck out the side in his last inning of work. McKendry has been a true ace to start the season with at least 8 K’s in all three starts.
Mediavilla relieving is noteworthy because that signals that he isn’t going to be the midweek starter this week. He was effective in his two innings of work and Hammond closed the door without incident.
Key Stats-
Overall it was a 2-2 week for Miami after originally being scheduled for five games. Travel issues caused the shortening of the series with Maine from four to three games.
It looked as though Miami’s offense is starting to come around. The inability to execute in certain situations prevented Miami from scoring several more runs over this four-game stretch. As a team they hit .231/.409/.354. The OBP is outstanding, and it will correlate to runs in the future, but only if more contact is made.
Miami struck out 44 times in the four games. 28 walks/12 HBP helped balance that out, but more contact is definitely required moving forward.
Zamora had a huge week, putting up a .417/.533/.583 line in the four games. Quinones was another bright spot, reaching base 8 times out of 15 plate appearances. Cloonan looks to be another hitter who understands what he’s doing at the plate as he had several good at bats and got on-base often.
Up next is a road game with FIU who is 5-6 and lost two out of three against Jacksonville State this past weekend. Then the Canes open up ACC play against Notre Dame, who is much improved this year at 6-4 with a series win at LSU.
