Miami baseball at Pittsburgh for must win series this weekend

After ending a six-game losing streak at Florida Atlantic Wednesday night the Miami baseball team travels to Pittsburgh this weekend for a must-win series. The Panthers are 7-16 after starting the season 5-0.

Pittsburgh enters the weekend series with the Miami baseball team with losses in 16 of their last 18 games. Miami goes from the penthouse to the outhouse of ACC baseball from last weekend at Mark Light Field to this weekend against the Panthers.

Miami was swept by first-place North Carolina State at home last weekend. The Wolfpack is 25-1 overall and 8-1 in the ACC.  Pittsburgh is last in the ACC with a 1-8 conference record. The Panthers lone victory in the ACC came in the final game of the series two weeks ago against Virginia Tech.

A lack of focus seemed to trouble the Miami baseball team during their six-game losing streak according to Hurricanes head coach Gino DiMare. After averaging 3.83 runs during the losing streak Miami erupted for 16 against FAU Wednesday night in a 16-6 victory.

The Hurricanes offensive uprising came against an Owls pitching staff ranked 95th nationally with a 4.19 earned run average. The Hurricanes bats should thrive this weekend against a Pittsburgh staff 184th in Division I baseball in ERA.

The Panthers have a team ERA of 5.30. Pittsburgh’s pitching staff is significantly worse against ACC teams. The Panthers’ hurlers have an 8.30 earned run average in conference games. That ranks 14th and last in the ACC.

Pittsburgh’s offense is not much better. The Panthers are 13th in the ACC in conference-only games with a .228 batting average. Only Notre Dame’s .224 is worse.

Miami Hurricanes

This is a series that Miami needs to win at a minimum and arguably should sweep. The last two weekends have been tough for the Hurricanes against top ten teams North Carolina and North Carolina State. If Miami is going to remain on the positive side of baseball bracketology these are the series that the Hurricanes need to win.

Miami is likely going to have to be self-motivated this weekend. Playing on the road in the ACC northern climate teams is not easy. Pittsburgh’s Charles Cost Stadium has a capacity of 900. The weather forecast in the Steel City this weekend is typical of a rust belt spring.

The Friday forecast is for a high of 58°and low of 52°. Saturday is expected to be a high of 68° and a low of 35° with rain in the forecast. Sunday calls for a high of 38° and a low of 24°. Let’s hope the Hurricanes and Panthers get the games in this weekend.

"SERIES INFORMATIONDates: Friday, March 29, 2019 – Sunday, March 31, 2019Game Times (ET): 6:00 p.m. | 3:00 p.m. | 1:00 p.m.Site: Pittsburgh, Pa. | Charles L. Cost Field (900)MIAMI HURRICANES (16-9, 3-6 ACC)Head Coach: Gino DiMare (Miami, 1992)Career Division I Record: 16-9 (first season) | Record at Miami: 16-9 (first season)PITTSBURGH PANTHERS (7-16, 1-8 ACC)Head Coach: Mike Bell (Florida State, 1996)Career Record: 7-16 (first season) | Record at Pitt: 7-16 (first season)Broadcast Information:TV: ACC Network Extra (all games)Student Radio: WVUM 90.5 FM | WVUM.org (all games)Twitter Updates: @CanesBaseball / @MiamiHurricanesLive Stats: HurricaneSports.comPitching Rotations:Miami:Friday: JR RHP Evan McKendry (4-1, 4.14 ERA)Saturday: SO RHP Chris McMahon (1-2, 4.36 ERA)Sunday: R-JR RHP Brian Van Belle (3-2, 3.31 ERA)Pittsburgh:Friday: R-JR RHP Derek West (0-0, 2.82 ERA)Saturday and Sunday: TBD/TBAInformation Courtesy of HurricaneSports.Com"

After the weekend in Pittsburgh, the Miami baseball team returns home for a five-game homestand beginning Wednesday against FAU. That will conclude a three-game weekend series against Florida Atlantic. The Hurricanes have owned the first two games winning both by a combined score of 27-10.

Florida State comes to Coral Gables for a critical three-game series next weekend. The Seminoles are 17-7 overall and 5-4 in the ACC. The Seminoles host Boston College in a three-game series this weekend.

The Hurricanes conclude the homestand with the first of a back to back, home and home series with Florida Gulf Coast Tuesday and Wednesday. The Hurricanes and Eagles conclude their three-game seasons series a week later in Coral Gables.