Miami defeats High Point, 7-6, in 11 innings.
Feb. 5, 2005
Coral Gables, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) – Senior Paco Figueroa hit an 11th inning game-winning RBI single to left field scoring catcher Alex Garabedian and giving the Hurricanes (3-0) a 7-6 win against High Point (0-2) Saturday night at Mark Light Field.
An infield single and throwing error put Garebedian at second base to lead off the 11th for the Hurricanes. Danny Robitaille followed with a walk before Walter Diaz advanced Garebedian and Robitaille to second and third with a sacrifice bunt. Figueroa broke a 6-6 tie and ended the game with a high chopper that went into left field and scored Garebedian for the 7-6 win.
Sophomore Danny Gil picked up his first win of the season for the Hurricanes and struck out three in two innings of work. Matt Kniginyyzky got the loss for the Panthers.
High Point took advantage of its opportunities early. Josh Doane led off the game for the Panthers with a double to the gap in right-center field. Garabedian caught Doane leading off second base and snapped a throw to shortstop Roger Tomas. Tomas threw to Ryan Braun on third, who missed the tag on Doane. Doane scored on Brandon Camardese’s wild pitch for a 1-0 High Point lead. Camardese hit Seby Renta and gave up a single to Josh Cotten to put runners on first and second with two outs. Dustin Holtzman tripled to right to bring home Renta and Cotten for a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the first inning.
The Panthers’ lead was short lived as Miami answered in its half of the first. Figueroa was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a wild pickoff throw by High Point pitcher Eammon Portice. Braun singled to center to bring in Figueroa. Jon Jay’s walk was followed by singles by Brendan Katin and Tomas and a double off the left field wall by Danny Valencia, all of which brought in runs for a 4-3 Hurricane lead. Tomas scored from third on a wild pitch for a 5-3 lead after one inning of play.
Jeremy Neyra’s single in the top of the second scored Matt Christie to bring the Panthers within 5-4 before the pitching game took over for both teams in the middle innings. Camardese pitched three more scoreless innings and struck out five. He was relieved before the sixth inning by Vince Bongiovanni, who pitched two solid, scoreless innings. High Point’s Portice settled down after the first and pitched five more innings and finished with 10 strikeouts and five earned runs on six hits in his collegiate debut.
Miami’s silence at the plate was ended by Figueroa’s shot that grazed the palm trees past the wall in left field for a 6-4 Hurricane lead in the bottom of the seventh. The Panthers responded in the top of the eighth with a two-run shot to left to tie the game at 6-6. Neither team was able to score in the ninth and the game moved to extra innings. A steady incoming wind kept shots hit by Braun in the ninth, and Katin and Valencia in the 10th from leaving the park and ending the game.
Figueroa tied a career high with four hits and his home run was the first of the year for Miami.
The Hurricanes and Panthers will play the final game of their three-game series at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 6 at Mark Light Stadium.
