The start times for Day 1 of the NCAA Tournament’s Coral Gables Regional have been changed, and they likely won’t be the only alterations to the schedule.
With a tropical storm possibly headed toward South Florida as early as Friday, flexibility, patience and good fortune will be required to complete the regional in a timely manner.
The first pitch of the opener between host Miami and Canisius has been moved up two hours, to 7 a.m. Tucson time Friday. Arizona vs. Ole Miss is slated to start approximately 55 minutes after Game 1. That game originally was scheduled for 4 p.m. Tucson time.
There’s no guarantee either game will be played or completed Friday as rain is expected to begin in the morning and isn’t supposed to let up until late Saturday, if then. The NCAA has multiple contingencies in case of suspended or postponed games, including running the regional Sunday-Tuesday.
None of this is easy on the coaches or players — especially the pitchers.
“It’ll be tough,” UA coach Chip Hale said. “I talked to Dave Lawn (the Wildcats’ pitching coach) about it. How long in this arena, at the college level, would you wait before saying, ‘Hey, no, we can’t let you go back out?’”
The other three teams in the regional have more experience dealing with weather than the Wildcats, who didn’t face a delay all season. Ole Miss’ game at LSU on May 13 was suspended because of weather. The teams played a doubleheader the next day.
Right-hander Dylan DeLucia, who’s slated to start against Arizona, threw 38 pitches before play was halted. He was able to come back the following day and throw 79 more in a 5-3 Rebels victory.
“The hope is that once you start the game there’s a big enough window that you don’t, as they would say, burn a pitcher — run a guy out for a couple innings (and) end up having a delay to where that guy can’t be used again,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. “Fortunately for us ... baseball in our league has prepared us. We had that situation in Baton Rouge where (DeLucia) pitched a couple innings and bounced back the next day.”
Bianco said he would prefer a set start time because it allows the starting pitcher to plot his pregame routine. It also allows the entire team to eat, warm up and take batting practice “when you’re supposed to,” Bianco said.
That might not be possible if rain arrives and persists in Coral Gables.
“Now there’s a little tournament angst,” Bianco said. “You’re taking your BP, but if that (first) game is going fast, we’ve got to make sure that we get our cleats on and get stretched out.
“But again, they’re used to that because of conference tournaments and doubleheaders that they played during the year. So it’s not that big of a factor. But it is different.”
He’s a keeper
The early favorite for MVP of the Coral Gables Regional might be Erik Buisine, Miami’s head groundskeeper.
“He has as much pride in what he does as anybody I’ve seen in any field of work,” Hurricanes coach Gino DiMare said. “He’s here at the field before anybody. And he’s the last one here. He spends the night here a lot of times.
“He’s done an unbelievable job of getting the field ready. I think our playing surface is as good as it’s ever been.
“With the weather being the way it could be — and we’ve had issues with weather before — it’s something he’ll be able to handle. He’s had practice with it.”
Hale has had ample experience with fickle Florida weather from his time as an big-league coach and manager. He recalled instances when thunderstorms “flooded the field” and the team was able to work out on it an hour later.
“You’d be surprised how quick these fields here in Florida drain,” Hale said. “I think we’ll be OK.”
Davis at DH?
Hale continued to express optimism that outfielder Chase Davis will be able to play less than a week after injuring his throwing shoulder. At worst, Arizona’s home runs leader should be able to DH.
“Hitting-wise, I think he’s a go,” Hale said.
Davis slammed into the wall at Scottsdale Stadium while making a catch in the first inning of this past Saturday’s game against Stanford. He was removed for a pinch hitter in the second.
Davis was expected to test his arm during the Wildcats’ practice Thursday. If Davis can’t play defense, Tyler Casagrande likely will start in left field.
Inside pitch
Thunderstorms delayed the Wildcats’ arrival. They left Tucson on a chartered plane about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. They had to land in Fort Myers and took a bus ride of about 2½ hours to Miami. They got there about 1 a.m. local time.
Collegiate Baseball named UA catcher Daniel Susac a second-team All-American for the second straight year. Susac has appeared in all 60 of Arizona’s games. He’s slashing .367/.432/.598 with 12 home runs, 19 doubles and 61 RBIs.
