The Miami baseball team will begin NCAA Tournament Regional play at home against Canisius at 10:00 AM on Friday on ESPN Plus. Miami ended the regular season with a 39-20 record and 20-10 in the ACC. The Hurricanes finished second in the ACC Coastal Division behind conference champion Virginia Tech.
Miami has not played Canisius or the other two regional participants Arizona or Mississippi during the 2022 season. Pittsburgh is the only common opponent for Canisius and Miami. Canisius enters the NCAA Tournament with a 29-23 record and won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament to earn an automatic bid.
The Golden Griffins have an RPI of 169 and finished 15-16 on the road this season. Canisius split a four-game series with Pittsburgh in Port Charlotte, Florida to begin the season. The Golden Griffins won the first and last games of the series 11-3 and 15-7. Canisius lost the middle two games to Pittsburgh 12-2 and 4-0.
The Golden Griffins enter the postseason with a six-game winning streak. Miami has lost six of its last eight games entering the 2022 NCAA Tournament. The Hurricanes were eliminated from the ACC Tournament in a 9-6 loss to North Carolina State in its opening game last week. Miami lost 16-3 to Wake Forest on Friday.
🚨 CORAL GABLES REGIONAL SCHEDULE UPDATE 🚨
— Miami Hurricanes Baseball (@CanesBaseball) June 2, 2022
Miami's opening game of the Coral Gables Regional against fourth-seeded Canisius has been moved to a 10 a.m. first pitch time. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. pic.twitter.com/9O9Yzc71PJ
"QUICK FACTSTeam: Miami HurricanesConference: ACCRecord: 39-18, 20-10Conference Finish: 2nd (Coastal)Postseason Appearance: 48thLast Appearance: 2021 (Regional)D1Baseball Rank: 7thBaseball America Rank: 6thRPI Rank: 15thNational Seed: 6thStreak: L2Last 5: 2-3Last 10: 4-6COACHESHead Coach: Gino DiMareYear at School: 4thRecord at School: 125-63 (.665)TEAM STATS (NCAA Rank)AVG: .291 (68th)OBP: .394 (55th)SLG: .483 (47th)HR: 84 (34th)Scoring: 7.8 runs/game (40th)ERA: 4.55 (52nd)WHIP: 1.37 (34th)FLD%: .970 (128th)Information courtesy of ArizonaWildcats.Com"
The Miami baseball team needs better performances from its starting pitching in the regionals. Carson Palmquist earned first-team All-ACC in 2022 and has been mostly dominant this season. In three starts, Palmquist has allowed six or more runs. In his last start against NC State, Palmquist allowed six runs in 3.2 innings.
After getting off to an outstanding start this season, regular Saturday starter freshman Karson Ligon has struggled for the Miami baseball team. Ligon has a 7.61 earned run average over his last eight starts. Miami needs Ligon to be effective to maximize its potential to advance out of the regionals.
"QUICK FACTSTeam: Canisius Golden GriffinsConference: MAACRecord: 29-23, 15-9Conference Finish: 3rdPostseason Appearance: 4thLast Appearance: 2018 (Regional)D1Baseball Rank: NRBaseball America Rank: NRRPI Rank: 169thRegional Seed: 4thStreak: W6Last 5: 5-0Last 10: 7-3COACHESHead Coach: Matt MazurekYear at School: 5th (16th)Record at School: 111-101-1 (.521)TEAM STATS (NCAA Rank)AVG: .296 (52nd)OBP: .399 (37th)SLG: .443 (114th)HR: 51 (147th)Scoring: 7.3 runs/game (65th)ERA: 5.28 (117th)WHIP: 1.57 (149th)FLD%: .963 (216th)INDIVIDUAL LEADERSAVG: Max Grant – .404OBP: Max Grant – .492SLG: Max Grant – .656Runs: Mike DeStefano – 56Hits: Max Grant – 882B: Max Grant – 133B: Max Grant – 6HR: Max Grant – 10RBI: Mike Steffan – 56SB: Mike DeSteffano – 22ERA: Tom Peltier – 3.19K: Matt Duffy – 116"
Canisius is an exceptional offensive team. The biggest deficit for the Golden Griffins is their fielding. Miami has to be able to take advantage of Canisius’ errors. The Hurricanes have to remain focused on the game against Canisius and not look ahead to Saturday. Miami needs more consistency in the regionals.
The Hurricanes enter the 2022 NCAA Tournament without a regional championship since 2016. Miami won its own regional and super-regional in 2016 to advance to what was its last College World Series Appearance that season. This is the longest Miami has gone without a CWS appearance since 2008 to 2015.
"Broadcast Information: ESPN Plus: Roy Philpott (PxP) and Jon Jay (Analyst)Radio: WVUM 90.5 FM | WVUM.org (All games)"
The losers on Friday will play at 11 AM on Saturday in an elimination game. Friday’s winners will play on Saturday at 6 PM for a spot in the Coral Gables regional championship. Miami last played in a regional championship in Starkville, Mississippi in 2019. The Hurricanes lost to host Mississippi State.
Miami was eliminated in three games from the Gainesville regional in 2021. Canisius is appearing in its fourth NCAA Tournament. The Golden Griffins’ first appearance was in 2013 and its most recent NCAA Tournament berth was in 2018. Canisius is 0-6 in its first three NCAA Tournament appearances.