Live Updates and Preview: Miami Vs. Florida Gulf Coast
DATE: Wednesday, February 28, 2024
WHERE: Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field, Coral Gables, FL
TIME/TV: 6:00 PM EST/ACCNX
LIVE AUDIO: 90.5 WVUM
MIAMI: Official Website | Schedule | Roster | Stats | Twitter
FLORIDA GULF COAST: Official Website | Schedule | Roster | Stats | Twitter
Miami defeated Long Island 22-5 to win the three-game series 2-1 in its last game.
Miami (5-2, 0-0 ACC) leads the all-time series 27-6 over Florida Gulf Coast. The 2023 season was the first non-COVID season since 2013 when the two teams didn't play. FGCU holds the last win in the series, a 7-2 victory over Miami on May 17, 2022.
Miami will start its schedule with 19 of its first 20 games at Mark Light Field. UM's first road contest comes on March 12.
Poll News
Miami and Florida Gulf Coast remain outside this week's top-25 D-1 Baseball Poll.
The ACC has a total of six teams ranked in the poll, including Wake Forest, which is ranked as the number one team. Clemson (ranked 10th) is the other conference team in the top ten.
Duke (12th), Virginia (13th), NC State (14th), and North Carolina (17th) are the remaining conference teams ranked in the top 25. Florida started the season ranked second and dropped two spots to fourth after losing to St. Johns in its opener.
The Gators, Virginia, North Carolina, Clemson, and Duke are the current ranked opponents on Miami's 2024 schedule.
Miami has qualified for the College World Series 25 times - the second-most of any program nationwide, trailing only Texas (37). The Hurricanes' four national championships (1982, 1985, 1999, 2001) are tied for fifth-most all-time.
Notable Miami Stats
Daniel Cuvet leads the Hurricanes with a .630 batting average (third in the country), 14 RBIs, and five home runs. The freshman also leads the team in on-base percentage (.697).
Jason Torres is second on the team with a .533 batting average, 12 RBIs, and four home runs.
Edgardo Villegas leads the team in walks (7)
Nine Hurricanes have at least one home run. The Hurricanes have a total of 21 on the season (4th in the country).
Sophomore Blake Cyr missed the last four games due to a personal matter. Cyr returns Wednesday against FGCU.
The Opponent
The Eagles are coming off a series win over another in-state foe as they took two out of three from Bethune-Cookman University last weekend at Swanson Stadium. The Eagles pecked out a 5-4 victory over the Wildcats in the series opener last Friday, then used a Jacob Lojewski grand slam Saturday to roll to a 10-3 win. The Wildcats got revenge Sunday with a 5-1 victory in the finale.
After a rough start to the season for the FGCU pitching staff, the Eagles' hurlers picked up the pace over the last four games. Last week, the Eagles posted a team ERA of 3.75. Opposing batters hit just .225 against the FGCU staff, with FGCU's weekend starting pitchers allowing three earned runs over 12.2 innings of work.
Starting Pitchers
Miami: RHP Ben Chestuntt (0-1), (9.82 ERA) is set to make his second start of the season. In his only outing, the senior allowed four runs on five hits over 3.2 innings in a home loss to UCF.
Florida Gulf Coast: LHP Matt Kavanaugh (0-2) (3.60 ERA) will make his third season appearance. In his last outing, the senior went 2.2 innings against Indiana State, allowing two runs on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
Miami Athletics Athletics and Florida Gulf Coast Athletics contributed to this report
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