Bargfeldt Dazzles in 4-2 Win Over Virginia Tech
HurricaneSports.com
By Camron Ghorbi
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – For the second straight weekend, junior lefthander Jeb Bargfeldt guided Miami to victory in the front end of a doubleheader.
A week after tossing a complete game at No. 10 Virginia, Bargfeldt (7-3) delivered another vintage outing to lead the host Hurricanes to a 4-2 win over visiting Virginia Tech at Mark Light Field.
“Just locating the fastball,” Bargfeldt said about his key to success in the opener. “The game gets a lot easier when you’re able to do that. Even though I didn’t have great command of other pitches, as long as it was put in play, the defense once again made several spectacular plays.”
Bargfeldt tossed at least seven innings for the fifth time this season. He allowed just one run on four hits across 90 pitches, but with the ACC Championship looming next weekend in Louisville, Ky., was removed before the start of the eighth with Miami ahead 3-1.
Bargfeldt credited his defense with another successful outing, as Miami looked to capture the season series in Game 2 at 7 p.m.
“When they [make plays], it gives you more confidence to attack the zone, let them get themselves out,” Bargfeldt said. “Carl [Chester] had 10 putouts in the outfield in center today. It goes to show you if you pound the zone and let your defense work, the game gets a lot easier.”
Miami out-hit the Hokies (23-30, 9-19 ACC) 10-6, with eight of nine starters recording at least one hit.
Other than a third-inning solo home run from Jack Owens, Bargfeldt kept the Hokies almost entirely off the base paths for the first five innings.
The Owasso, Okla., native and ace southpaw retired nine of the next 10 batters following the solo shot.
Trailing 1-0 in the early going, the Hurricanes tied the game in the fourth on a perfectly executed suicide squeeze.
With runners on the corners and one out, Joe Gomez dropped a sacrifice bunt towards first base to plate fellow senior Edgar Michelangeli, who connected on a one-out bunt single earlier in the inning.
The Hurricanes (27-26, 14-13 ACC) took their first lead of the game an inning later.
With Chester on third base after a leadoff double and wild pitch from Virginia Tech starter Connor Coward, senior Johnny Ruiz connected on an RBI groundout to short for a 2-1 lead.
Bargfeldt ran into a brief moment of trouble in the sixth, when Owens connected on a single and Hokies slugger Tom Stoffel followed with a double to right.
But the lefthander skirted any damage, however, getting cleanup hitter Sam Fragale on a flyout to center to keep the Hurricanes ahead 2-1.
Bargfeldt allowed a harmless single in a quick seventh inning, punctuating his outing with a strikeout of catcher Joe Freiday, Jr.
“I kept my mindset the same. With the doubleheader today, I wanted to keep the bullpen as strong and as fresh as possible,” Bargfeldt said. “My mindset didn’t change. I just tried to stay focused, and they let me keep the ball [in the seventh] and I was able to get it done.”
Miami added a run of insurance on a sacrifice fly from junior Michael Burns that plated junior James Davison from third, extending its lead to 3-1.
Coward was charged with all three runs in seven innings. He allowed nine hits and threw 116 pitches.
Davison recorded his 11th multi-hit game of the season in the win, finishing 2-for-4.
Sophomore Andrew Cabezas allowed an unearned run in the eighth, but the Hurricanes got it back on an error charged to Hokies third baseman Matt Dauby that scored junior Hunter Tackett, who singled to open the inning.
Cabezas pitched the final two innings to earn the second save of his career.
After Game 2 of the doubleheader, Miami will wrap its regular season on Saturday with the series finale against Virginia Tech. First pitch for the contest, slated for broadcast on ACC Network Extra and 560 WQAM, is set for 1 p.m.
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