UM’s offensive woes continue in loss to FIU

CORAL GABLES — It’s been about as nightmarish a start to the season as the Hurricanes could have imagined.

After winning two of three to open the year against Rutgers last month, Miami has struggled at the plate. The Hurricanes haven’t been sharp in the field either, committing 15 errors in 10 games. And while the starting pitching has, at times, done well, there have been struggles on the mound, too.

It’s been the worst start of coach Jim Morris’ 24-year tenure at Miami and it got even worse Tuesday.

In the first game of a two-game, midweek series against cross-town rival Florida International, the Hurricanes were held to just three hits, didn’t play clean defense and the Panthers capitalized, using the strength of a four-run sixth inning and strong pitching from starter Robert Garcia to pick up a 12-1 win over the Hurricanes at Mark Light Field.

“It’s depressing, no question about that,” Morris said of his team’s struggles, including the fact Miami is now hitting .178 as a team. “Watching the games, we’ve got to find a way to get better offensively. That’s the number one thing. We don’t have to worry about anybody else. We have to worry about us and how to get better. The only answer I know to that is to keep working hard and work even harder, if that’s possible. Our guys are working very hard. It’s not that they’re not, but we have to figure out how to get guys on base and score a few runs.”

The win was just FIU’s 25th against Miami (4-7) after the two programs have met 117 times since 1973.

It came in the schools’ first regular-season meeting since April 23, 2008 – a game FIU won 6-3.

This one, though, never felt that close, even with the Panthers only holding a 1-0 lead most of the night.

FIU (6-6) wasted no time scoring against after Miami starter Greg Veliz gave up a walk and hit a pair of batters in the top of the first. After that, a sacrifice fly from JC Escarra gave FIU a quick 1-0 lead.

That was more than enough for Garcia, who after giving up a pair of walks to open the bottom of the first, retired the next 17 Miami hitters he faced.

The senior right hander who hails from Mexico pitched the finest game of his FIU career, finishing with a career-high nine strikeouts in a career-high seven innings to earn his first win of the season.

Garcia did not allow a hit until the seventh when centerfielder Carl Chester smacked a one-out single up the middle to break up the no-hitter.

It was a play that had Chester pumping his fist as he ran up the first base line after he ensured Miami’s streak of 3,249 games without being no-hit was preserved. For Chester, himself, the single extended a five-game hit streak and made him, through 11 games, the only Hurricane to total double-digit hits.

“We just have to find a way. We come out every day as a new day, but we have to figure out how to put runs on the board and keep swinging,” Chester said.