- Record: 34-25 (15-14)
- RPI: 33
- SOS: 8
Louisville Cardinals
- Record: 38-21 (15-15)
- RPI: 29
- SOS: 24
Team Deep Dives
Miami Hurricanes
We’ve seen the Hurricanes be a Jekyll and Hyde team this season, steamrolling the middle portion of their conference schedule, but ended their season losing six of their last seven games. While they were a bubble team approaching the postseason, and went one-and-done in the ACC Tournament, the Canes found their way into the Field of 64 and capitalized on every bit of their opportunity.
The Hurricanes’ offense is led by sophomore standout Daniel Cuvet, who is slashing .379/.455/.715 with 17 home runs and 81 RBI. Cuvet had a great weekend in Hattiesburg, going 5-for-13 with two doubles, one home run, and five RBI, all of which came in the first two games of the regional. After that, the Golden Eagles’ pitching staff was able to keep him at bay.
Outside of Cuvet, this offense hasn’t been the most productive, as there is a significant drop-off after him. Jake Ogden, Derek Williams, and Dorian Gonzalez Jr. are the important pieces in this lineup that need to be working for the Canes to be able to break through.
My big concern with Miami offensively is the inconsistencies when they lose. Of their 25 losses, the Canes have only scored over four runs in four of them, so when they lose, they lose badly, typically getting beaten by three or more runs in those games.
The pitching staff is similar, great in the top line but has a pretty steep dropoff, which their team 5.12 ERA speaks to. As well as only striking out 515 hitters over 508 ⅓ innings, a big red flag in my book.
