Three Hurlers Combine to Strikeout 13 In Convincing Miami Win

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Three University of Miami pitchers combined to strikeout 13 while allowing just two FAU hits in a quick 7-3 win over the Owls Tuesday night at Alex Rodriguez Park.

Starter Steven Ewing and relievers Adam Sargent and Daniel Miranda combined to retire the final 16 batters, as a two-out, fourth-inning walk marked the last time anyone would reach base for the Owls.

The win moves Miami to 9-8 overall while FAU fell to 11-7.

Making his fourth mid-week start of the season, Ewing (1-1) recorded a career-high eight strikeouts in earning his first win. For the big left-hander, the outing looked a lot more like his last – when he allowed just one run in five innings to Illinois State last week – than it did his last time out against the Owls, when he surrendered four earned runs in 4 1/3 innings.

Tuesday night, the Orlando native allowed three unearned runs on just two hits while walking two and piling up his record strikeout total in six innings of work.

He was relieved by Sargent, who struck out three in two innings before Miranda came on to strikeout two more in a scoreless ninth.

FAU starter Jake Meiers (1-3) suffered the loss, allowing seven runs – four earned – on six hits while walking three and striking out three in 5 1/3 innings. Ahmed Garcia and Hugh Adams went the rest of the way for the Owls, holding the ‘Canes scoreless over the final 2 2/3 innings.

Miami got all the runs it would need in a four-run first, but added three more three innings later. The ‘Canes have combined to scored 18 over their last two games after an 11-run showing against Virginia Tech on Sunday.

Harold Martinez finished the night 2-for-4 with two runs scored for the ‘Canes, while Michael Broad went 1-for-3 with a two-run triple and Nathan Melendres and Zeke DeVoss each chipped in with an RBI.

The lone FAU hits came off the bats off Colby Gratton (1-for-2, one run) and Nick Delguidice (1-for-3).

UM didn’t waste any time getting on the board in this one, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first, mostly capitalizing off FAU miscues. After DeVoss scored the first run on a Melendres ground-out, a pair of FAU errors allowed three more runners to cross. Runs two and three came in on a dropped fly ball in right-center before run No. 4 came in on a throwing error by shortstop Delguidice.

Miami returned the favor in the third when a throwing error by Ewing led to three unearned runs for FAU.

But that would be as close as the Owls would get all night.

The following inning, Miami went back up by four on Broad’s big triple followed by a sacrifice fly to left off the bat of DeVoss.

The rest of the game belonged to the pitchers, who put up a bunch of zeros the rest of the way.

With 2,641 in attendance, the game lasted just 2 hours and 11 minutes, much in part to yet another impressive outing by the UM pitching staff, who boasts a 2.65 ERA and has held opponents to three runs or less nine times already this season.

Miami will return to action this weekend when it travels to Winston-Salem, N.C. for a three-game ACC series against Wake Forest. Game one of the series is slated for Friday at 6 p.m.

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