Hurricanes baseball sweeps Towson to start season. Takeaways from the four-game series

Season-opening sweep: Complete.

The 25th-ranked Miami Hurricanes baseball team scored four runs in each of the second and third innings pull ahead for good and kept piling on from there to rout Towson 11-1 on Sunday at Mark Light Field and end the opening weekend of the 2022 season a perfect 4-0.

Miami won the season opener 10-8 on Friday and then took both games of a Saturday doubleheader by scores of 11-2 and 13-2.

“Good start to the season, getting four games under our belt there,” Hurricanes coach Gino DiMare said. “Obviously happy with the way we swung the bat.”

The question now will be to see how this early success carries over throughout the season as the competition ramps up. The Hurricanes’ first big test will be March 4-6 when they host the Florida Gators, who are ranked No. 9 in the country but lost two of three to Liberty to start the season. Miami also faces three ACC teams during the regular season that also opened the year ranked in the top 25: No. 11 Florida State, No. 21 Georgia Tech and No. 23 Duke.

Until then, here are three takeaways from the first series of the season.

Canes dig the long ball

DiMare said heading into the season that his lineup would have to produce more runs if Miami wants a chance to go deep

The Hurricanes not only did that with 45 total runs over their first four games.

They showed power potential up and down the lineup.

Seven players combined to hit eight home runs over the course of the series, with freshman Lorenzo Carrier hitting two home runs to pace the team.

Jacob Burke, Dominic Pitelli, Zach Levenson, Dorian Gonzalez, Yohandy Morales and Maxwell Romero also hit home runs.

Carrier’s second home run of the series, a second-inning grand slam on Sunday, put Miami head for good in the finale. The freshman hit .500 and drove in nine runs in the four games, with five of his seven hits going for extra bases (two doubles, one triple, two home runs).

“It’s a huge confidence booster,” Carrier said. “Great way to start off my career here at Miami. I hope to keep this confidence throughout the season to stay consistent.”

Miami had 21 total extra-base hits in the series (eight home runs, 12 doubles and one triple) — a feat that surprised even DiMare.

“Surprised? Yes,” DiMare said, “but as time goes on here, this could be a very, very good hitting team. You just never know. We have seven new guys in the lineup. You just have to wait to see.”

Starting rotation shows promise

After Alejandro Rosario struggled on Friday (six runs allowed in five innings), the rest of the Hurricanes’ starting rotation had solid outings.

Carson Palmquist, making his first career start after serving as Miami’s closer a year ago, struck out seven over five innings and allowed just one run — a solo home run — in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader.

Jake Garland allowed just two unearned runs over six innings in the nightcap Saturday while striking out eight.

And Alex McFarlane on Sunday tied his career high in innings pitched (five) and set a new single-game career high in strikeouts (six) while allowing just an unearned run.

“They’re ready,” Romero said. “These guys have been waiting and waiting. They’re ready. They’re hot.”

Defense needs to clean up early errors

While there was a lot to like from Miami’s first four games, one glaring issue stood out.

The Hurricanes defense committed seven errors in the field against Towson, with six of the seven coming in the infield.

Four of Towson’s 12 runs scored in the series were unearned due to Miami errors.