’Canes baseball began its 2025 season 3-0 after sweeping the Niagara Purple Eagles (0-3) in dominant fashion. Hurricane fans were treated to three quality games after a long offseason, winning 14-2, 10-0 and 11-1, respectively.
After a disappointing sub-.500 record last year, head coach J.D. Arteaga plans to lead his new-look squad back to the typical success of Miami baseball.
“All in all, great weekend. The fans were great … We’re excited about what’s to come,” said Arteaga to reporters after the game on Sunday.
Here are three takeaways after the opening series.
Taking Care of Business
First off, the quality of the opponent has to be considered. Niagara had only been outside to practice twice before this weekend, and it showed. The Purple Eagles looked ill-prepared to take on an ACC opponent. with countless errors from misplaying fly balls to booting ground balls across the diamond.
Miami took care of business in a dominant fashion. Across the three games, UM outscored Niagara by 32 runs, only being behind for a single inning. Pitching was in control from the start to the finish of each game, with the staff combining for 38 strikeouts on the weekend. The hitting followed suit, with 36 hits across the three games.
The balance of pitching and defense bodes well as Miami continues to prepare for higher-level competition.
Pair of Aces
Across all three games, each of the weekend starters delivered a promising performance, but the Saturday/Sunday pair of junior Griffin Hugus and redshirt junior Brian Walters impressed fans and scouts alike. The two combined for 21 strikeouts across 11 innings, carving up hitters as they pleased.
Hugus’ fastball delivered as advertised, a great rise that left hitters consistently under the ball and struggling at the plate. But as the game developed, he leaned on his offspeed, which proved equally as effective — a dominant display in his Hurricane debut.
“When your starter does a job the way Griffin did today, it makes everyone’s job a lot easier,” Arteaga said.
Walters initially struggled with command in his first inning, resulting in a run given up. But after that, he was completely dominant and efficient. His mid-90s sinker proved a problem for Niagara’s lineup, consistently generating swings and misses.
Both former relievers proved they could make it to the five-inning mark, which could be a sign of things to come for the talented pair.
Veteran Approach
With so many positives from opening weekend, the veteran approach across the series stood out. From a lineup with a great balance of righties and lefties to quality approaches at the plate, the squad projects to give opposing teams a headache when trying to gameplan.
Moreover, no one player solely carried the team throughout the weekend. From Tanner Smith connecting on multiple extra-base hits to Bobby Marsh dominating on Opening Day, going 4-for-4 at the plate, everyone in the lineup played a part in the success.
“We looked a lot at character and guys who will fit the culture we’re trying to build,” Arteaga said.
The culture looks to have truly shifted at The Light, but only time will tell how far this squad can go.
The Hurricanes travel upstate to Boca Raton to take on the Florida Atlantic Owls at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 18, hoping to continue their momentum from Opening Weekend.