Miami Hurricanes baseball team hoping to pull another upset in Louisville Super Regional

Miami Herald

2 days ago

Another week, another long-odds road challenge for the Miami Hurricanes baseball team.
Miami (34-25) will play at Louisville (38-21) on Friday, starting a best-of-three super regional, with the winner advancing to the College World Series next week in Omaha.
Here are two reasons why Miami is an underdog:
1: Louisville is 27-7 at home.
2: Miami is 7-14 on the road.
Then again, Miami beat the odds this past weekend, winning the four-team Hattiesburg Regional as the three seed. Miami edged host and top-seeded Southern Miss 5-4 on Monday night as the Hurricanes held on despite a two-run Golden Eagles homer in the bottom of the ninth.
Miami has struggled at times this season, getting swept in three games by Wake Forest and Virginia. Miami has also dropped series to Florida; Connecticut; Florida State; North Carolina; and Notre Dame.
The Hurricanes also lost their last two games before the Hattiesburg Regional to Notre Dame and Cal by identical 12-2 scores.
Miami's improvement in Hattiesburg was due in part to the return to form of left fielder Derek Williams, who had missed five weeks following hand surgery.
Williams' homer on Monday gave Miami a lead it never relinquished.
'I told you guys, Derek is a big piece in our lineup -- not just hitting but on the bases,' Miami coach J.D. Arteaga said. 'His homer got us going.'
Williams is batting .331 with nine homers, a 1.028 OPS and 10 steals in 14 attempts (40 games).
His presence in the fifth slot lengthens a batting order that is top heavy.
Three-hole hitter Daniel Cuvet is Miami's star, leading the team in batting average (.379); OPS (1.170); doubles (19); homers (17); and RBIs (81).
Overall, Arteaga feels pretty good about his top-six hitters in the batting order: leadoff man Jake Ogden, who is batting .345 and leads the team with 62 runs and a 13-for-13 rate on stolen bases; two-hole hitter Max Galvin (.301, .832 OPS); Cuvet third; cleanup batter Dorian Gonzalez (.805 OPS, second on the team with 11 homers); Williams fifth; and Tanner Smith sixth (.807 OPS).
However, the bottom-three hitters in the lineup need to step up from Miami's perspective: first baseman Renzo Gonzalez (.615 OPS); right fielder Fabio Peralta (.625 OPS); and center fielder Michael Torres (.598 OPS).
All three of them are good defenders, especially Torres.
On the mound, the three key Hurricanes are starters AJ Ciscar (6-1, 3.78) and Griffin Hugus (6-7, 3.90 ERA); and closer Brian Walters (4.96 ERA, team-high 10 saves).
In an ideal world for Miami, the Hurricanes win the series in two games.
But if a third game is required, the pressure will be on freshman Tate DeRias (2-3, 5.77). DeRias took a loss to Southern Miss on Sunday, allowing nine runs in just two-thirds of an inning.
Miami, which has won four national titles but none since 2001, is making its first super-regional appearance since 2016.
Louisville, which has never won the College World Series, has earned 10 regional titles, including eight since 2013.
Last season, the teams split four games. Louisville took two out of three games at home, but Miami got the Cardinals back by beating them at the ACC Tournament. The teams did not play this year during the regular season.
The Cardinals won their 2025 regional – hosted by top overall seed Vanderbilt – in three straight games this past weekend. Louisville beat East Tennessee State, 8-3; knocked off Vanderbilt, 3-2; and defeated Wright State, 6-0.
Louisville's three starting pitchers in the regional – Patrick Forbes; Tucker Biven: and Ethan Eberle – allowed just three earned runs in 17 innings (1.59 ERA). They also struck out 29 batters, including 13 by Forbes and 11 by Eberle.
Offensively, the Cardinals are fast, led by Lucas Moore (48-for-49 on steals); Zion Rose (30-for-33); and Alex Alicea (30-for-36).
The Cardinals also have home run power with Tague Davis (18 dingers); Eddie King Jr. (15); and Rose (12).
Moore leads the team in hitting (.366) and runs (82). King, hitting .348, leads Louisville in extra-base hits (32). Jake Munroe, hitting .338, tops the squad with four triples. Alicea, hitting .316, leads the team in on-base percentage (.462). And Garrett Pike, batting .301, leads the team in doubles (17).
Arteaga, though, is confident in his squad.
'This is a special group,' Arteaga said. 'This game rewards teams that do things the right way -- play hard, play with confidence and courage.
'All of that is this team to its core.'