It is supposed to take a long time to build muscle and power.
However, the Hurricanes have ditched that process and already shown a large amount of strength early in the season. Miami put up four home runs against the Indiana State Sycamores on Wednesday night, rolling to a 9-3 victory at Mark Light Field.
“The guys were swinging the bat,” Miami head coach Gino DiMare said. “The ball is jumping off their bats right now. We feel like we can hit for power in our lineup. It’s kind of our MO.”
Just the night before, Miami (4-1) drove in 11 runs against Stetson. Remarkably, seven of the runs were scored by home runs. Against Indiana State (2-2), the Hurricanes only plated one that didn’t come from a homer.
With a significant ability to drive the baseball, several ‘Canes contributed to the hit party early on.
Freshman phenom Blake Cyr hit a home run to get the day started for the offense in the second inning. Driving in three runs on one swing, Cyr added to his impressive young stint with the ‘Canes after going 2 for 3 on Tuesday, where he drove in another four runs. Additionally, Cyr would hit another home run in the eighth to give him a team–leading five RBI on the night.
“When you turn the lights on, there are certain guys that it just clicks,” DiMare said. “Blake is showing that right now. He’s playing with a lot of confidence. He brings a certain energy and passion to the team that the guys like. He’s going to keep playing if he continues to swing the bat like that.”
A usual suspect in ‘Canes’ victories, third baseman Yohandy Morales hit a two-run home run in the third after outfielder Edgardo Villegas homered to left center. For Morales, his performance only built off his strong outing on Tuesday when he had two home runs and five RBI against the Hatters.
Miami was hardly in trouble for much of the game, but it often found a way out of the fire when the smoke piled up. In the fifth, the Sycamores put three men on base courtesy of a walk, an error on ‘Canes shortstop Dominic Pitelli and a base hit by nine-hole hitter Seth Gergely.
Junior starter Ben Chestnutt didn’t fold. Getting two straight outs to allow no runs, Chestnutt struck out leadoff hitter Josue Urdaneta and caused Randal Diaz to fly out to end the inning.
Through five, Miami held a 6-1 lead.
Chestnutt allowed just one run on two hits in five innings with seven strikeouts and two walks.
“Ben got ahead of a lot of hitters,” DiMare said. “I thought he did an excellent job of mixing his pitches. He located his fastball, curveball and changeup all for strikes. His command was certainly better than his first appearance out of the bullpen.”
Backing him up, reliever Brian Walters was removed from the game after what appeared to be an elbow injury. Walters gave up one run after getting two outs and was relieved by lefty Rafe Schlesinger, the only other ‘Canes pitcher to give up a run the rest of the night.
Sycamores starter Brennyn Cutts was removed after having given up three runs in 2.1 innings of work. Indiana State used seven more pitchers throughout the night.
Chestnutt earned the win (1-0) while Cutts (0-1) was handed the loss.
Capping off its last offensive inning with a Cyr two–run homer, Miami earned a quick three outs in the ninth to send the fans at Mark Light Field home happy with a victory.
After the midweek game, the ‘Canes will prepare to face Dartmouth in a three-game series over the weekend. First pitch is slated for Friday at 7 p.m.