Miami baseball rolling after four-game sweep over Lafayette

If nothing else, the No. 23 Miami Hurricanes baseball team has proven to be the class of the Patriot League.

The Hurricanes concluded their opening weekend series against Lehigh by scoring 27 runs. Lehigh’s rival, Lafayette, did not prove to be any more of a challenge.

Miami hit nine home runs, including five in the fourth inning, to complete a four-game sweep over Lafayette with a 30-5 win on Sunday. As wild as that sounds, the Hurricanes only totaled 28 runs during their two seven-inning wins in Saturday’s doubleheader.

Daniel Cuvet hit two of the Canes’ five fourth-inning home runs including a grand slam to drive his RBI total to 13 on the season. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, a Hurricane hitter has smashed a grand slam.

“It was a great inning,” Cuvet said after the game. “The guys were able to get on base for me.”

Cuvet has been a star in Miami since first donning the orange and green. He smashed 24 home runs as a freshman and drove in 84 runs as a sophomore. He seems on pace for both totals after the first two weeks of his junior season.

This series was a coming-out party for freshman Dylan Dubovik, who despite starting only two of the six games he’s played this season, has batted .846 with three home runs and 11 RBI. Much like Cuvet on Sunday, Dobovik hit two home runs, including a grand slam, on Saturday.

Alex Sosa, a junior catcher who transferred from North Carolina State, homered on Friday and Sunday against Lafayette and leads the Hurricanes with 17 RBI while tied with Cuvet for the team lead with five dingers.

The Miami pitching is showing top form as well. AJ Ciscar has 16 strikeouts in 11 innings with a 2.45 ERA in two starts. After a 10-strikeout performance on Saturday, Larazo Collera has 18 total punch-outs in 9.2 innings.

Miami faced similar competition last year, but did not beat them like they are now. The Hurricanes scored 57 runs against Lehigh and 73 runs against Lafayette. Against their toughest opponent, Central Florida, the Canes stormed back from a 5-0 deficit and won on a walk-off home run in extra innings.

Throughout the series against a mid-major opponent Miami was certain to beat, the Hurricanes enjoyed the energy of a packed crowd at Mark Light Field.

“It’s amazing,” Dobovik said after Saturday’s game. “This is kind of like my backyard, my hometown.”

Miami will truly be tested in the upcoming week. The Hurricanes will travel north to Florida Atlantic on Wednesday before hosting No. 14 Florida during the weekend. The Owls are coming off avoiding a home sweep against Iowa with a 3-2 win on Sunday while the Gators enter the week 7-1 and will host FIU for a mid-week series.

This week will test just how good Miami can be, but after two weeks and a lot of fireworks, the focus and chemistry are already there.

“It’s pretty easy to stay locked in,” Cuvet said. “It’s a fun group of guys.”