Today was about playing baseball against a competition other than your teammates. Twelve innings of made-up rules where only 5 batters hit per inning regardless of the number of outs. That was the main difference and the other items that were tossed in to confuse the fans fortunately never came to pass. The 10-man starting roster consisted of two DH (Dorian Gonzalez, Bobby Marsh) and an extra hitter(Jake Kulikowski). Two squads playing 6 innings. Confusing, try keeping track on your scorecard.
Miami used 6 pitchers in today’s exhibition game each pitching two innings. The overall report card I would give high marks in only allowing two runs to score. With only facing off against 5 batters, it is difficult to say what may have progressed beyond the five. This was the hand that was dealt so we will proceed from there.
Miami did not waste any time starting with their ace Brian Walters. Not throwing at speeds he is capable of, but he still threw in the low 90s. Didn’t give up a single hit, walked one in the first and the same in the second. Punched out two in the second making for a well-earned day on the mound.
In Miami’s opening two, Jake Ogden led off with his first of three singles for the day. He was known as a stealing machine at UNC Greensboro, and he quickly showed his talents by stealing 2nd and advancing to 3rd on a WP. Daniel Cuvet, still looking for his first hit of the preseason was productive with a long fly to left bringing in Jake for the first score. Miami picked up their second run the following inning with the only homer from both teams under very windy conditions by Bobby Marsh.
With the change of pitchers in the 3rd and 4th, Griffin Hugus, one of the potential weekend starters, was the next in the rotation. The Owls became a bit uncaged in the 3rd showing their best inning of the day getting three consecutive singles following two groundouts 4-3. With runners on 1st and 2nd (back-to-back singles) a liner to right was retrieved by Derek Williams who made a perfect throw to home to record a picture-perfect Kodak moment. Griffin’s second inning ended by hitting the 5th batter with no one else on base.
Miami’s bats were quiet except for Jake Ogden leading off the 3rd with his second single of the day. He made it to 3rd before the 5th batter, Derek Williams struck out. Nothing to report on the 4th.
Alex Giroux, A RH grad transfer from as far out as one can imagine: Hawaii. Can’t figure out why the location change. Must be the weather. The Owls didn’t provide a Floridian welcome in opening the 5th with a single, stealing second, and following it up with another single putting runners on the corners. 4th batter to the plate put the Owls on the board with a SF to right to bring them to within one of the Canes. That would be the end of their scoring until the 9th.
Miami answered in the 5th with Jake Ogden again leading off and again coming up with a lead-off single. Jake would get himself to second before the final hitter of the inning Derek Williams connected with an RBI double making the score 3-1.
The 7th and 8th were quiet on both sides as the second set of players took over for their 6 innings It was like two separate games with a running score. Reese Lumpin, another RH grad student. Reese joining us from Winthrop Univ out of SC. Reese enjoyed his welcoming getting out of a lead-off single with the 2nd DP which followed the inning before preventing any scoring. Next inning giving up a walk to the 5th batter leaving runners stranded on 1st and 2nd.
All quiet for the Canes in the 7th and 8th Carson Fisher, yet another RH grad hailing from Oklahoma State was Miami’s 5th pitcher of the day. On the negative side of the ledger, he broke Miami’s string of zeros across the board. An opening single Got the ball rolling for the Owls. The 3rd batter in the rotation, with a lead-off batter on second, hits a grounder back to Carson. Instead of going to third, which was the obvious move to get the lead runner elected to go to first. A runner on third with the 5th and final batter of the inning singles giving the Owls their 2nd run bringing them to within a run of 3-2.
Leading 3-2 in the 10th, Jake Kulowski opened with a double, Adrian Areizaga got on with an E5, and Fabio Peralta singles to load the bases. BL Elijah Hurt strikes out swinging leaving it up to our final batter Alex Kuenzle with his chance to make a difference. Not exactly as he would have liked it to go down but a walk is still a run on the board extending the lead back to two.
Final pitcher of the day, the honor went to Jackson Cleveland, RH senior transfer from Lamar Univer., Beaumont Texas. Jackson ended the 11th with a 6-4-3 DP after hitting a batter prior. The Owls had something brewing in the 12 with a walk and single with their final two batters but time had run out and for Miami’s final two innings was nothing to write home about with Amaury De Jesus reaching second on an E8 in the 11th and the bats completely quiet in the 12th.
The Owls will get a second chance for real on their home turf when the Canes travel to Boca on Tues 18 Feb. We will meet a total of three times during the regular season
Much better decision-making on defense except for the decision by Carson in the 9th to go to 1st instead of 3rd costing a run. No lack of attention from our infielders avoiding a free pass as we have experienced during earlier scrimmages. Pitching is so far ahead of last year but the true test will come in February. As for the hitting, a bit of a disappointment.
Put 9 hits on the board but all for singles except the two doubles by Derek Williams and Jake Kulikowski’s double which should have gone down for an error. The wind played a factor in the CF losing the ball. Jake Ogden took home honors for his 3-3 day at the plate. In the solo HR by Bobby Marsh the wind was not a factor in a well-hit ball to left. Bobby also was credited with a hit for the only other multi-hit batter for the day. I think overall it is back to the batting cages.
Preseason is flying by with three weeks before Scout Day wrapping up the preseason 9 Nov. The next three weeks the tensions will be high with much on the line. It is going to be even tougher for the coaches to decide which 8 will be packing their bags. With so many new faces is the decision to stick with those who have proven themselves in the past or with the unproven freshman not exposed to collegiate-level baseball? These final weeks will be interesting to see how it works out
