Hurricanes face FSU on 6-game win streak

The Miami Hurricanes baseball team has hit its stride in time to face rival Florida State.

Miami (9-4, 5-3 ACC), ranked as high as No. 5 by Baseball America, takes a six-game winning streak into the series that starts with a 7 p.m. first pitch Friday night at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.

“Since back in the day obviously, FSU-UM [has been a] really big rivalry,” said catcher Adrian Del Castillo. “We just have to stay focused on ourselves.

“We’ve been pretty hot lately in wins, and we just got to keep doing our thing. Keep hitting, keep pitching and defending.”

It was not long ago the Hurricanes had a losing record at 3-4 after dropping three of four following a thrilling opening-series win over the then-top-ranked Florida Gators.

“We’re playing just more complete baseball,” said UM coach Gino DiMare on Thursday. “We turned it around on the mound. We started pitching better. We started playing much better defense.”

Most of all, the Miami lineup is hitting the way it has been known to be capable of doing.

After the Hurricanes had just one extra-base hit in a disappointing late-February series against Virginia Tech, the bats have come alive, most recently in a 15-2 win at Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday night. That followed double-digit-run outputs against Florida Atlantic, ranked No. 25 at the time, and Wake Forest last week.

“All of a sudden, we got it going offensively,” DiMare said. “We’re a team that’s supposed to be known for some power and we weren’t hitting for power at all. …

“[We’re] just freeing them up. [They’re] not thinking so much, being so defensive, and guys just cutting it loose. We’ve kind of had a roll going here. We’re swinging the bat.”

Players feel the momentum building, but they are staying levelheaded before facing the Seminoles (7-6, 4-5), who just got above .500 with a 10-2 win over UF on Tuesday.

“We’re very confident at the plate,” said infielder Anthony Vilar. “We’re not really thinking about the win streak or anything like that. Just taking it one game at a time. We know we’re all clicking hittingwise.”

Miami last weekend moved veteran starting pitcher Daniel Federman down to third in the rotation, pushing two freshmen, Alejandro Rosario and Victor Mederos, up a day to throw on Fridays and Saturdays, respectively. Rosario has a 1.96 ERA through his first four college starts.

“I approach it like every other start,” said Rosario of his first outing against FSU. “Just try to go out there and give the best opportunity for my team to win.”

DiMare said Federman, who has an 8.10 ERA through three starts after last Sunday’s series finale against Wake Forest was canceled, has to be better with his control and keep his pitches down.

“He’s a competitor,” said first baseman Alex Toral, who played with Federman at Archbishop McCarthy before they both went to UM. “It’s somebody that I want the ball in his hands, someone that I’ve been completely comfortable with on the mound since day one. … There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s going to flip the switch, and we’re going to be ready to go this weekend.”

DiMare announced Thursday that pitcher/utility player JP Gates underwent Tommy John surgery on his elbow and is out for the season.