Resurrected Canes: Miami Baseball’s Stunning Turnaround After Early Slump ... With Top 20 NC State Up Next

The Miami Hurricanes baseball team, once left for dead as it pertains to the postseason, has been resurrected. How bad was it? Well, at one low point of the season a CaneSport message board poster began starting “Fire J.D. Arteaga” threads after each loss.

This is a team, remember, that less than a month ago – on April 4 – had a 16-16 overall record and was 3-8 in ACC play. All signs were Miami was seeing a repeat of last year, when the team had its first losing season since 1957 (27-30, 11-19 ACC).

Now?

It’s been quite the turnaround.

The big picture:

The team has won 11 of its last 13 games and is gearing up for a big home series against No. 18 NC State this weekend. That will help tell if this team is “for real,” or if it’s perhaps more of a mirage.

“This is a special team full of resiliency,” Arteaga said of his team that’s now 27-18 and 12-9 in conference play, which is three games out of first in the loss column. “The ability to come out every day and be 0-0 with a goal being to win the day, it’s really remarkable. … That mentality is a big reason why we are where we’re at right now.

“It’s a special team. I haven’t enjoyed coaching a team (like this) – I know it’s my second year as a head coach, but I’ve been the pitching coach for a long time – and I haven’t enjoyed a group of guys the way I’ve enjoyed this one. My goal is just to keep this thing going as long as possible. It’s a special group we put together in the matter of a month. From Day 1 our biggest goal was to get them to come together as a group, as a unit, and credit to them. They’ve done a great job of that.”

Arteaga says he could sense this coming earlier in the season, referencing the Florida State series in which the Noles took two out of three games back in March.

“You take the Florida State series: Get blown out on Friday night (14-1), then beat arguably the best pitcher in the country on Saturday (Jamie Arnold, who now has a 2.39 ERA and 5-1 record, Miami won 9-6), then Sunday it’s an okay game but we lose (10-6). There was no consistency early-on. Guys are now comfortable with their role and just playing better baseball through and through.

“We had some good games (early on), thought we turned the corner, and the next day another team would show up. It comes down to consistency.

Key players driving the surge:

Most recently Miami swept Boston College, with Daniel Cuvet securing two of the wins with key late-inning hits. He’s swinging the bat extremely well of late and has a .323 average with a team-high 10 home runs and 56 RBI.

“Guys are doing what they are supposed to do and that’s what is helping us be successful,” Cuvet said. “I’ve fixed my swing, and my confidence is coming back.”

The other healthy hitter batting over .300 for Miami is Jake Ogden (.337, 5 HRs, team high 45 runs). Miami’s missing Derek Williams (.345, 8 HRs) and Todd Hudson (.263, 1 HR), who are both out with a broken bone in their hand but are expected back around the start of the ACC Tournament.

Arteaga said Williams will start swinging again on Tuesday to gauge his progress. “I feel pretty confident he’ll be back in the lineup by ACC weekend,” Arteaga said.

Overall Miami’s batting .271 with 55 home runs in the 45 games.

“Guys are swinging the bat better, we’re making plays on defense and the pitching looks better because of the defense,” Arteaga said.

On the mound overall Miami has a 4.75 ERA and has allowed 38 home runs in the 45 games. The team’s gotten strong recent outings from starters Griffin Hugus (junior, 4-4, 3.56 ERA 68 strikeouts in 60.2 innings, .215 opponent batting average), freshman AJ Ciscar (began in the bullpen but now has six starts with 16 total appearances and a 3.98 ERA and 3-1 record) and freshman Tate DeRias (began in bullpen but now has four starts, 15 total appearances and 2.60 ERA and 2-0 record).

“The two freshmen going into the starting rotation have really solidified the rotation,” Arteaga said. “They’ve gone deep into most of our games, at least five innings in every one of their starts prior to the pitch count early on.”

Brian Walters has settled nicely into a closer role after earlier starting games (7 starts, 14 appearances, 4.83 ERA, 2-2 record, 6 saves). Walters, of course, is former Cane star closer Andrew Walters’ younger brother.

“The biggest thing (Andrew) says is trying to stay as consistent as I possibly can,” Brian said. “Each and every day, taking it the same so I can try to replicate what I do each and every day. That’s his biggest message to me.”

He adds of the starters, which include two freshmen, that “The young guys are really stepping up. … I know how talented they are going to be. They are going to give Canes fans great things the next three years or so of their careers.”

NC State scouting report:

As for the upcoming series against the Wolfpack? The team is 30-13 (15-6 ACC) and has won seven of the last eight including sweeps of Clemson and Cal. So something will give this weekend at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.

NC State bats .291 with a team and has hit 59 home runs. The leaders: Chris McHugh (.377, 7 HRs, team high 46 RBI), Brayden Fraasman (.311, 10 HRs), Josh Hogue (.308, 9 HRs) and Alex Sosa (.292, 9 HRs).

The pitching staff has a 4.79 overall ERA and the weekend starters are Dominic Fritton (5-3, 3.60 ERA), Heath Andrews (4-2, 5.50 ERA) and Ryan Marohn (6-2, 3.43 ERA). Andrew Shaffner (2.35, 6 saves) and Jacob Dudan (2.82, 5 saves) solidify the bullpen.

“Great team, really high caliber team,” Walters said. “But the whole goal for us is to play our brand of baseball. I think we’ve done a really good job of that the last couple of weeks.”

After Miami’s NC State series the only remaining opponents are a midweek game against FIU and a series at Virginia and home vs. Notre Dame.

Miami players like Cuvet and Walters say they aren’t paying attention to the standings (Cuvet quips that “I couldn’t even tell you what our own record is”). Well, Mr. Cuvet, the Canes are right there in the ACC at 12-9, with only three conference teams are better in the loss column – FSU at 12-6, incoming NC State at 15-6 and Clemson at 13-8.

So yeah, this is a big series coming up.

“A great opportunity we have ahead of us with NC State coming in,” Arteaga said. “We are playing our best baseball at the best time of the season. The key now is to keep it going.”

One cool thing:

Miami played a game at Fenway Park in the team’s most recent series against Boston College, and Red Sox coach Alex Cora – a former Cane – took care of UM.

“Alex got us dinner, which was awesome,” Hugus said. “Got to hang out in the visitor’s clubhouse and shower up there before we went to the airport, which is very unusual. Usually they bus us to some football training or soccer room, it’s usually not great. But being in a Big League clubhouse is pretty cool. We didn’t know what was happening beforehand, so after the game we were surprised by it. It was amazing. We were all very thankful he did that for us. It was an unbelievable experience on top of playing there.”