Happy Monday, everybody. Hope your week has gotten off to a great start.
The Miami Hurricanes had some notable happenings in the sports world since the last time I touched base, so let’s get right to them.
1) Holy moly. What a night it was in Coral Gables last Tuesday night.
I had my phone and tables set up side by side and was watching the dramatics unfold in both Canes baseball and Canes hoops at the same time.
Miami baseball found themselves down 5-0 going into the eighth inning against UCF, and while
it felt over, I figured I’d watched it this far and would stick with it. And boy, I’m glad I did. With two outs, Jake Ogden clubbed one out to left to get back inside slam range and make it 5-2 going to the ninth.
Meanwhile, Miami kept seesawing back and forth with the Virginia Tech Hokies on the hardwood. The stubborn Hokies continued to hold a slim lead that Miami would quickly erase, only to see VT jump back again. It felt like a game that, in the stars, was supposed to go Tech’s way. At least those were the vibes.
But then, UCF’s pitcher got wiiiiiiiild and plunked three Canes in the bottom of the ninth. Michael Torres got a ball past the infield for a single to plate two and tie the game. Suddenly, it felt like it could be Miami’s night.
Next door, up 67-66 with 3.6 seconds left, Tech drove the ball to the hoop. Except their man fell down and half-stumble/threw up a shot that missed. Tech missed the offensive rebound, and time expired on a crucial win at Watsco Center.
Amusingly enough, the baseball broadcast caught the fans making their way from the Wat over to Mark Light for the conclusion of the baseball game.
And then Vance Sheehan sent everybody home in elated fashion with a two-run bomba off the scoreboard in left for a walk off 8-7 win in 13 innings.
Nights like this don’t come around often, and for those who got to go to one (or both), man, I am envious. A tremendous night for Miami athletics.
2) Saturday night was, unfortunately, tough for the Hurricanes on the hardwood in Charlottesville .
But they gave the Wahoos everything they had and took that game right to the wire. Miami tied it up at 83 on a driving basket by Malike Renau with seven seconds left. Unfortunately, what happened in the Canes’ favor the Saturday before burned them against Virginia. With under four seconds left, Tre Donaldson fouled Jake Mallory on a three, and Mallory sank all three free throws for the winning margin.
Still, that’s not a game you expect to win, although it would have been basically a tourney clincher if they’d gotten it.
Next up is at FSU on Tuesday night. The Seminoles have been playing well lately, and Miami, well, almost never seems to beat them in basketball. This team needs to get this one in Tallahassee after coming up short in Coral Gables against them earlier in the year. A loss could push Miami back towards the bubble after working hard to get off it.
3) Boy, how the Canes are crushing the baseball right now.
I’ll just leave this here for you.
I was doing some stuff around the house yesterday, so I just caught bits and pieces, but holy Cannoli, did the Canes’ offense go nuclear. 30-5 over Lafayette.
We’ve seen Daniel Cuvet, Alex Sosa, Torres, Sheahan, and others come through at the plate this year so far, but boy, there’s one particular Cane to keep a close eye on as you go forward. Dylan Dubovik went nuclear against Lafayette, with five of his nine hits in 11 ABs going for extra bases. The local freshman from Coral Springs could be in the midst of an early career breakout.
We’ll see how he and the rest of the 9-0 Canes do this weekend as the competition steps up — the Florida Gators come to town this weekend for a three-game series.
Go Canes!
