No. 24 Miami Fall Short to Duke in ACC Opener

March 8, 2013

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – No. 24 Miami opened its Atlantic Coast Conference schedule in disappointing fashion Friday night, falling to Duke by a final score of 4-2 at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.

For the first time in seven games, the Hurricanes were facing a deficit to open the contest. The Blue Devils struck for two runs off sophomore southpaw Chris Diaz (1-1) in the top half of the first, as an RBI double from Mike Rosenfeld and an RBI groundout from Jordan Betts helped the visitors jump out to a 2-0 lead.

Miami would respond, however, cutting the deficit in half by plating a run in the bottom of the inning. Freshman Ricky Eusebio extended his hitting streak to four consecutive games with a lead-off single, and then took third on a basehit from junior second baseman Alex Hernandez. With two runners on base, senior Chantz Mack nearly made it three straight hits, but a nifty play from Duke infielder Andy Perez forced an out at second. Eusebio raced home on the fielder’s choice, however, cutting the lead to 2-1.

The Hurricanes would tie the game in the bottom half of the third. An RBI single from Hernandez, who finished the night 2-for-4, landed in left-center, plating junior Dale Carey to knot it up at 2-2. Carey, who connected on a single earlier in the frame, recorded his third steal of the season to set up the scoring opportunity.

After a rocky start to the night, Diaz settled down to keep the Hurricanes in the game. Despite setting a new career-high with 11 hits allowed, the Florida City, Fla., native would exit after six innings and his team facing a two-run deficit at 4-2. Diaz also tied a career-high with five strikeouts, the most since his Opening Day start against Rutgers.

The Hurricanes had a runner in scoring position in the fifth and sixth innings, but were unable to convert in two-out situations. Carey was stranded at third in the fifth, while junior
Brad Fieger, who extended his career-best hitting streak to 14 consecutive games, was stranded at second in the sixth.

The Miami bullpen kept the Hurricanes in it until the end, as freshman Frank Grandinette marked his ACC-leading ninth appearance of the season with two scoreless innings. Grandinette worked himself out of big two-out jams in back-to-back frames, but Miami’s offense could not muster enough support to overcome the early deficit.

The two teams will return to Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field for game two of the series on Saturday night. First pitch for the matchup, scheduled for broadcast on WVUM 90.5 FM, is set for 7 p.m.