Comeback Canes: UM baseball team has had a knack for rallying to win games this season

Miami Hurricanes baseball coach Gino DiMare is all-too familiar with the intensity of the UM-FSU rivalry…especially when they play close games.

During DiMare’s senior season at UM in 1999, the Hurricanes beat the Seminoles six of seven times with each game decided by one run.

Could there be more in store this weekend given Miami’s knack for comeback wins in tight games so far?

The Hurricanes (16-9, 5-4 ACC) enter a three-game series starting Friday against Florida State (12-12, 3-6 ACC) at Mark Light Field at Alex Rodriguez Park ranked No. 16 by Baseball America.

Miami is only still in that position thanks to their penchant for gritty comeback wins which has overcome some early struggles through the first month and a half of the season.

The Hurricanes have rallied to win 11 of those 16 victories. They trailed after the sixth inning in five of those wins. Three of them ended in walk-offs with the most recent coming on Tuesday when junior Zack Levenson crushed a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to help Miami beat FIU 6-5.

“It’s got its pros and cons to it,” DiMare said. “I definitely like that we’re not quitting...But it’s not the recipe for success, you want to play with the lead. We feel like we have one of the best closers in the country and we’d live to give him the ball in those situations.”

Florida State’s first season under coach Link Jarrett, a Seminoles alum who was hired after taking Notre Dame to the College World Series last season, has not gone well. The Seminoles enter this weekend’s series having lost nine of their past 10 games and fell from the top 25.

It’s not hindering any motivation for the Hurricanes, however.

Miami has dropped six of its past seven against FSU going back to the 2019 season and was outscored in three losses by a combined 34-2 in 2021 at Mark Light Field.

“It’s a rivalry matchup so no matter what happens, they’re going to give us their best game and hopefully we can continue that poor streak for them,” UM sophomore starting pitcher Karson Ligon said.

Two issues for the Hurricanes this season have been inconsistency with their starting pitching and the ability to get timely hits. Miami went 1 for 35 with runners in scoring position this past weekend when it was swept in three games on the road by No. 2-ranked Wake Forest.

DiMare switched his Friday and Saturday starters in that series, going with Ligon in the first game and sophomore Gage Ziehl in the second game. It did not go well for Ligon, who gave up six earned runs on seven hits and walked four over 3 ⅔ innings. Ziehl gave up three runs on six hits in 6 ⅔ innings in his start, but Miami mustered only two runs in three games.

DiMare will stick with his rotation in that order as Ligon starts Friday against the Seminoles with Ziehl on Saturday and Alejandro Rosario on Sunday.

“He probably had his worst outing, just the ball coming out of his hands wasn’t good. He’s had some good outings for us and that’s why we flip flopped him and Gage,” DiMare said. “He’s thrown better. His breaking ball is better and his changeup might be his best pitch but most inconsistent pitch. He’s done a better job but it’s one of those things where he has to be more consistent with it.”