Canes Take Down #8 Clemson In Historic Comeback, 12-11
CLEMSON, S.C. – Maybe it was the magic of Friday the 13th. Perhaps it was the young kids growing up. Or was it Ron Fraser smiling down in Jim Morris’ final season at the helm in Coral Gables? Whatever it was, the Hurricanes will take it.
Miami rallied back from an eight-run, ninth-inning deficit to take home a shocking 12-11 upset win over No. 8 Clemson in 12 innings Friday night at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
In a game that took more than four hours and 30 minutes to finish, the Hurricanes completed UM’s biggest comeback since Fraser’s Hurricanes came back from 10 down in the ninth to beat Tampa in May of 1992, in Fraser’s last season.
The final score of that game? Hurricanes 12, Spartans 11.
“I haven’t seen anything like that,” Morris said. “It was a huge win for us. I think Clemson is the toughest place to play on the road in our conference. Our guys just battled their butts off in the ninth to get all those runs back.”
Trailing 11-3 and down to their final three outs, the Hurricanes put together an eight-run frame to come all the way back and tie the game at 11-11.
“I’m very proud of the effort to come back in that type of situation,” Morris said.
Thanks largely to a sparkling four-inning relief outing from junior righthander Frankie Bartow, Miami had the chance to take the lead in the 12thand capitalized.
Freshman Freddy Zamora lifted a one-out single to shallow center for his fourth hit of the night, scoring pinch runner Kam Lane and giving Miami a 12-11 lead.
Zamora’s hit was one of just two allowed by reliever Carson Spiers (1-2), who entered in the 11thinning.
Bartow (2-0) allowed the first two baserunners to reach in the bottom of the 12th, but struck out Patrick Cromwell and induced an inning-ending double play to pull of the win in front of 5,350 fans –many of whom had left the stands before Miami’s miraculous comeback.
“We kept battling and kept moving the bus,” Bartow said. “Once [pitching coach] J.D. [Arteaga] told me to start warming up, I got in the zone.”
Bartow allowed just one hit and one walk in four shutout innings after entering in the ninth. The Miami native struck out five and threw 54 pitches to earn the win.
“From the first inning, I had confidence in myself and in my defense,” Bartow said. “That’s a big part of my game…this was a team win. We kept battling from the beginning. It’s not just me, it was a big team win.”
True freshmen combined for 13 of Miami’s season-high 19 hits in the victory.
“We needed to hit – that’s been our biggest thing,” Morris said. “All those hits were great. Our pitchers threw well. It’s crazy to say in a 12-11 game, but after those first two innings, we had just one more bad inning after that.”
The stunning ninth included hits by seven different Hurricanes, including the game-tying double with two outs by senior Hunter Tackett – his second at bat of the inning – off Clemson reliever Ryley Gilliam.
Junior Romy Gonzalez opened the inning by lining his fourth hit of the night to right. Tackett reached on an error and freshman Alex Toral singled to load the bases.
Zamora came up with the first run-scoring hit of the inning with a two-RBI single. A single from freshman Willy Escala loaded the bases once again, and a bases-loaded walk from Clemson reliever Bo Gobin to freshman Gabe Rivera pushed across a run to cut the deficit to 11-6.
An RBI single from Isaac Quinones made it 11-7, and another RBI single – this one from senior Michael Burns – cut it to 11-8 and prompted a Clemson pitching change.
Gonzalez came up with a hard-hit sacrifice fly to left before Tackett crushed a 1-0 pitch from Gilliam to dead-center and scored two runs to cap the comeback.
In an eventful first, the Hurricanes plated two runs in the top of the frame before Clemson responded with a grand slam in the home half.
One inning later, Gonzalez lined a leadoff solo home run down the right field line, but the Tigers returned the favor with a two-run blast from Patrick Cromwell.
After the early surge from both sides, neither team scored over the next five-plus innings before Cromwell added his second homer of the game as part of a five-run Clemson eighth.
Junior designated hitter Danny Reyes returned after a 25-game absence due to a thumb injury, making the start at designated hitter and finishing 0-for-3.
Clemson (25-9, 10-6) tagged Miami lefthander Jeb Bargfeldt for a career-high six runs in 6.0 innings.
Bargfeldt settled down after the rocky start to allow two singles over his final four innings of work. The Owasso, Okla., native tossed at least 6.0 innings for the seventh time in nine starts this year.
The Hurricanes (14-19, 8-8 ACC) jumped out to a 2-0 first-inning lead on Tigers starter Jacob Hennessy.
Zamora opened the game with a single and Escala followed with a basehit of his own to set up runners on the corners.
Escala reached base for the 14thstraight game with the single.
Freshman Gabe Rivera connected on a sacrifice fly in foul territory down the right field line, and freshman Isaac Quinones added an RBI single to give the Hurricanes an early lead.
A grand slam from Chris Williams in the bottom of the first put Clemson on top at 4-2.
Gonzalez connected on an opposite-field shot on the first pitch he saw from Hennessy to open the third inning. The home run was Gonzalez’s third of the season.
Hennessy scattered seven hits and three runs in 5.0 innings.
The two teams return to Doug Kingsmore Stadium for a scheduled doubleheader. First pitch for Game 1 of the doubleheader is set for 1 p.m. Game 2 of the doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m., unless Game 1 concludes later than 4:15 p.m., in which case Game 2 will begin 45 minutes after the conclusion of Game 1. Both games will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra and WVUM 90.5 FM.
