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Pitching Questions Loom as Miami Hurricanes Prep for Decisive Game vs. Southern Miss

On3 imageby:Matt Shodell•06/02/25•

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Reese Lumpkin
Reese Lumpkin is likely to get the start tonight (photo courtesy of Miami Athletics)

It’s all on the line tonight for the Miami Hurricanes baseball team that’s seeking its first Super Regional berth since 2016. All that stands in the way is top-seeded Southern Miss, which upended UM 17-6 last night to force the winner-take-all game at 9 p.m. tonight in Hattiesburg, Miss. The game will be televised on ESPNU.

A carrot that’s dangling is that No.1 national seed Vanderbilt was upset in its region, so if Miami does win then all that stands between the team and Omaha would be a best-of-three series at Louisville.

CaneSport’s been told it’s likely “but not 100 percent confirmed” that Reese Lumpkin will get the start at pitcher in the pivotal game this evening. The only pitchers that likely aren’t able to go tonight based on their workload this weekend would be Griffin Hugus, AJ Ciscar and Jake Dorn.

Lumpkin is a midweek starter who has a 4-2 record and 5.51 ERA with 10 starts and 13 appearances – he hasn’t started since May 17. A 6-6 senior who transferred into Miami from Winthrop this year (played at Winthrop for four years), last year he pitched in 13 games for the Eagles and had a 4-2 record and 5.51 ERA. Including this year, he has a career record of 6-13 and 6.46 ERA.

In his last outing for Miami against Notre Dame on May 17 he pitched two innings and allowed four runs. Prior to that May 7 he had a strong outing against FIU, going six innings and allowing two runs.

Some speculated that Brian Walters could get the start for Miami since he’s starred since moving from the rotation to the bullpen (was 2-2 with a 6.16 ERA as a starter but now has nine saves and a 2.20 ERA in 12 appearances in relief). The idea could be – assuming Lumpkin starts – that if he struggles the team could quickly turn in Walters’ direction and ride him as long as possible. Other key relievers that could work in are Carson Fischer (4-1, 5.69 ERA), Will Smith (2-0, 4.56 ERA) and Rob Evans (0-0, 5.40 ERA). Alex Giroux (5-2, 6.50 ERA) is another option – he’s started three games and has 19 relief appearances. Plus Tate DeRias (2-3, 5.77 ERA), Jackson Cleveland (0-0, 4.91 ERA) and Michael Fernandez (0-1, 7.88 ERA) could be available for limited work based on their innings pitched to this point.

Southern Miss has its own pitching issues, with four starting pitchers already having thrown a lot of pitches and closer Colby Allen throwing 78 pitches yesterday. But with all hands on deck it’s possible the team will try to get an inning our two out of all the above. Otherwise two pitchers that have limited workloads to this point are Josh Och (2-0, 4.50 ERA), Chandler Best (1-2, 4.00 ERA), Brooks Willoughby (3-0, 5.03 ERA) and Landen Payne (2-1, 3.03 ERA).

This could be one of those games where one of the above pitchers is “on” and his team advances.

Or a game where it’s a case of whoever outhits the other team wins.

We’ll find out starting at 9 p.m.

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