Searching For a Bandwagon

Now that the Panthers season has been derailed and the Canes basketball team has been eliminated from the NCAA Tournament, we only have one hope for success in South Florida: the UM baseball team. The Canes are fresh off a 5-0 week, having dominated all 3 opponents with overwhelming offensive firepower.

We all knew Miami had the bats to compete at a high level, but the #2 ranked Canes have been on fire. Miami totaled 82 runs in just 4.5 games (final game of the Wake Forest series was called at 9-1) including two 20+ run games, one against NJIT and another against the Demon Deacons.

The amazing thing is that it isn't just a handful of guys carrying the load. Every game somebody different steps up with 3 or 4 hits and 4 RBI. It must be a nightmare for opposing pitchers to have to prepare for a lineup that can strike a dagger in your heart at any moment.

What's even more impressive is that the pitching remains solid even during blowouts. Miami's ERA was 2.50 during the Wake Forest series even when Canes pitchers had no pressure to keep runs off the board. Freshman lefty Chris Hernandez continues to impress, winning his 4th game of the season with 8 strikeouts against Wake Forest in Game 2 of the weekend series. I'm beginning to believe he is Miami's best pitcher so far this season.

The Canes continued last week's dominance by finishing off Bethune Cookman 10-5 tonight. Tomorrow they finish the 2 game series before heading to Durham to face Duke in a 3 game series. What I'm really looking forward to is the mid-April clash at Tally against the 2nd ranked (Baseball America) Seminoles. We also host 3rd ranked UNC towards the end of the year. Those two series will ultimately determine just how good these Canes are.