Everything Miami's J.D. Arteaga Said Ahead of Troy in Gainesville Regional

By Justice Sandle Sports Illustrated

Updated May 29, 2026 8:19 AM

The Gainesville Regional and the idea that the Miami Hurricanes will battle it out against the Florida Gators for a spot in Super Regionals is the ideal path that many will follow throughout the weekend.

However, the Troy Trojans stand in the way of the Hurricanes and the winners bracket. All focus are on the Torjans, who can easily trick the Canes if they playing at their best.

J.D. Arteaga knows this and prepares for battle with Troy. Here is everything he had to say ahead of the matchup:

Opening Statement...

J.D. Arteaga: First of all, you know, it's an honor to be here, man. Making the feel of 64, it seems like it's tougher and tougher every year. You got to take just a paring in college baseball. You just get in, teams like Mercer are not getting in with it. You got the add and some of the blue bloods, I guess, that are not in the tournament. You expect to see them, you know, year in and year out. It's not a guarantee anymore. It's a tough season for everybody, and then you got to play well and perform just to get here. And now we're here, one of 64 teams that has a chance to get to the next round, the super regionals, and then get to Omaha and just win one game at a time. It's really our goal right now. And then winning Friday night is what we're looking forward to.

On Gainesville Regional...

No, I mean, it's no matter where you're going, it's a tough one, man. You know, it's, uh, every team that's hosting is either hot or they've had a great season, or they won their tournament. And it doesn't really matter where you're at. Some are tougher than others when you look at, you know, maybe some of the RPIs and stuff like that, but this game is won and lost on the field. Last time we were here, we didn't play Florida. You know, we, uh, they were 2-0, we were 1-2, so it doesn't matter where you're at as long as you're in your field. All that matters is the next game, and that's Troy right now.

On His Game One Starter...

Well, we've got to win game one, you know. We've got to win game one and just look at matchup wise and what Troy's lineup looks like. And it looks like it's pretty heavy on the left-handed side. So, you know, Rob Evans is going to start first game one. If that's what we're doing and we need to win game one, then that's what we're going to do. And we're going to go with Rob Evans, the best matchup.

On Rob Evans...

Well, he's been really consistent for us all year being left-handed. He's tough on left-handers, throws strikes, he fields his position well. You know, every time he's taken up the ball this year, he's given us a chance to win, which is all you can really ask for from a starting pitcher. Gives us a chance to win and then we just got to score runs when we need to score runs, and the bullpen's got to do their job, and you win games. So he's given us as good a chance as anyone to win. Now, you know, we've got a different opponent with a different lineup. You know, right-handers might have gone in a different direction, but we're trying to win game one.

On What is Different Now compared to Early in the Season against Florida...

Our lineup is completely different. I mean, Cuvet is out of the lineup. And we've got a different first baseman now in DH. Our center fielder is different. But I think you see the same for just about every team. You know, everyone's gonna go through injuries. It's a matter of who's gonna get hurt. It's not if someone's gonna get hurt, it's who. And you know, what we're dealing with, what we're dealing with, just like everybody else is. You know, Florida's lineup looks different. Troy's lineup looks different. So, it's what we got. So it is a little different. The guys out there are bullpen, it looks different. So I think everyone's in the same boat.

On Troy...

I mean, obviously the committee thought highly of them to get in the at-large. As they should have. I mean, it's a good team. It's a good lineup. They propose a lot of different ways to beat you. And you gotta defend. You gotta play the small, you know, short game. You gotta pitch. You gotta run bases. They do a little bit of everything. So, it's a well-balanced team, well-coached team. They're not gonna give you anything. So we've got to play good baseball in order to beat them.

On Playing without an All-American...

Well, it's been over a month now, so it's, you know, Milano's done a great job there offensively. He hasn't really been overmatched or anything. He's done a good job. He's steadily moved up in the lineup. He's kind of hitting sixth the last week, sixth or seventh. So just continue to do what he's doing, you know. He's a freshman, but he's a freshman that, you know, every day coming to practice, he's behind an All-American that he knew he was going to play. That can't be easy. I've never been in those shoes and coming to the park every day knowing I'm not going to play, um, but in his situation as a third baseman behind Daniel Cuvet, he's not going to play. But he still showed up every day with a smile on his face, practiced really hard, and got better and better. When his opportunity came, he was ready for it. I think his first at-bat of the start, he hit a home run at FIU. So as a coach, nothing makes you happier. The guys that practice and do things the right way, when they get their opportunity, they run with it. So just continue to do what he's doing.

On Potential Weather Struggles...

Something I learned in my, I don't know what year this is for me in college baseball, 27 or 28 years, it, when you get to the regionals, super regionals, it's almost, it never goes by script, you know. It's always somebody that hasn't done a whole lot throughout the year that gets it done, gets a big out, a big inning, big hit. Um, and it's the weather or due to being a loser's bracket and you gotta go to somewhere you haven't gone to or whatever it might be. So, we're in the moment. We're in the moment. The rain comes, we'll make a decision then. Um, but that's something that we have absolutely no control over. And this game is hard enough to worry about weather, man. It's uh, we, we read our script, understanding we have to make adjustments as we go.

Follow all social media platforms to stay up to date with everything Miami Hurricanes-related: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube,and BlueSky.

This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/miami as Everything Miami's J.D. Arteaga Said Ahead of Troy in Gainesville Regional.

This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 8:01 AM.