Highly touted high school prospect Alex Toral struggled mightily during his freshman season for the Hurricanes. However, his sophomore campaign has been a different story. The power-hitting first baseman slugged his second home run in as many games to lead the Hurricanes to a 7-1 victory over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights Saturday evening at Alex…
“Our starting pitching is our strength, no doubt” DiMare said. “But if we can find a way to score some runs, which has been our bug-a-boo the last two years, we’ll win our share of games.”
“I look forward to every game. Hopefully I can do this for another 35 years,” Pate said.”
“This is our first game together and we looked pretty good,” Del Castillo said. “We aren’t even close where we need to be, so I think we are going to be pretty strong.”
As his strong play drew more attention from opposing teams, pitchers began to throw around him, choosing to give him a free base rather than allowing him a chance to hit a home run. This lowered scouts’ interest, but it was not Toral’s fault.
“This can’t be real; it almost feels fake,” said Cabezas, who was the No. 544 overall pick. “I can’t believe I’m going to live out my dream and play professional baseball with a great organization like the Minnesota Twins. It feels amazing. I’m at a loss for words right now.”
Freshman right-hander Chris McMahon guided UM (17-23) through the first four innings of Wednesday night’s game unscathed. But the Panthers (19-21) found a chink in his armor in the top of the fifth inning.
Every season, each UM program looks to its seniors to lead the way. The pressures to reach success on and off the field fall heavily on their shoulders.
The win marked just the second time the Panthers have beaten the Canes. UM now leads the all-time series 17-2.
The West Chester, Pennsylvania, native has been on a pitch count since his return, but made it all the way up to 89 pitches on Wednesday evening.
After clinching its fourth consecutive series victory over the Clemson Tigers with a 6-1 win in game one of a doubleheader Saturday, April 14, Miami’s struggles returned in the series finale.
Sports aren’t always fair. MacDonagh was cut from the team during the fall of his sophomore year in 2016.