Baseball Breakdown NCAA Regional: Dartmouth vs University of Miami - Part 1

The University of Miami Hurricanes take on the Dartmouth Big Green in the opening round of the NCAA Regional baseball tournament at Mark Light Field in Coral Gables Florida, this Friday June 4 at 4 pm. Dartmouth went 26-17 this season and is playing in their 7th post-season appearance in school history. The Canes on the other hand are playing in their NCAA record setting 38th straight NCAA regional and they have hosted it 23 times in school history.

The Canes are coming off a tough 2 weeks. They were handed 3 losses from top ranked Virginia and another from Boston College in a 12 inning marathon. These past few weeks however should provide just the motivation the Canes need to get ready to rock and roll in the upcoming regional and super-regionals. Its a whole new season now, starting with game #1 against Dartmouth on Friday. What happened last week or last month doesn't matter any more, its all about the U and what we do going forward.

Here is the scoop on the Dartmouth.

Dartmouth leads the nation in fewest walks issued per nine innings at 1.89, so their pitchers no how to control the ball. Off the top the Canes need to make sure they come to the plate with a good eye. They need to stay off the high stuff and watch the back door off speed pitches as Dartmouth will try to keep the Canes guessing. As of this blog we don't know who will start for Dartmouth but the two most likely candidates are Cole Usler or Kyle Hunter.

Cole Usler is 7-0 with a 3.76 era. He has struck out 55 in 52.5 innings

Kyle Hunter is 2-0 with a 3.69 era. He has struck out 36 in 53.2 innings.

Dartmouth's Hitting:

Their are a few players for Dartmouth the Hurricanes should be primarily concerned with. Chris O'Dowd a freshman catcher who bats 3rd in the lineup has an on-base percentage of .489 this year with a batting average of .382. He also put up 42 hits and 25 RBI's, he is someone the Canes need to watch out for. Jason Brooks usually hits in the 5th spot and is batting .357 with 51 hits . Brooks posted a .394 on-base percentage this season and his 42 RBI's means he is dangerous with runners in scoring position. Joe Sciafani is the Big Green's lead-off batter and is batting .329 with a .436 on-base percentage and 51 hits.

The Canes need to limit these three hitters production and they will have no problems beating the Big Green. The Canes pitching staff needs to keep their pitch counts low and work the corners of the plate effectively.

We will break down more on what the Canes need to do in Part 2 which we will post soon...