Late Hitting Keeps Baseball Alive in Regional

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — In a game married by weather delays, top-seeded Miami stayed alive to force a winner-take-all game seven with a 2-1 victory over second-seeded Texas Tech in extra innings Monday afternoon.

Down to their last five outs in a game that was postponed a day due to inclement weather, Miami scraped together its first run in over 16 innings against Texas Tech when play resumed in the eighth inning Monday. One-out singles from senior Tyler Palmer and freshman Zack Collins off Tech reliever Jonny Drozd put runners on the corners, and a groundball from sophomore David Thompson towards third base set up a play at the plate.

Red Raiders third baseman Ryan Long fielded Thompson’s grounder and fired towards catcher Hunter Redman, but Palmer slid in safe under the tag to tie the game 1-1.

Thompson’s RBI double in the top half of the tenth off Red Raiders lefthander Chris Sadberry put Miami ahead 2-1. Freshman Bryan Garcia, named second-team All-ACC in late May, entered when play resumed in the eighth and pitched three clean innings to earn the win.

Two separate rain delays Sunday night kept both teams largely out of sync. A 38-minute delay during the sixth inning and a 79-minute delay before the start of the seventh caused many of the 2,050 fans in attendance to seek shelter. The two teams finished out the seventh inning before umpires decided to postpone the end of the game until Monday afternoon.

Senior righthander Javi Salas delivered five efficient innings during play Sunday night, yielding just three hits and one run in the outing. He struck out five batters and walked three.

Texas Tech struck for a run in the game’s first inning, as a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch forced in the game’s opening run. Salas limited the damage, however, inducing a flyout from Red Raiders Anthony Lyons to keep the Hurricanes deficit at just 1-0.

Tempers flared for both sides in the third inning after David Thompson grounded out to short for the final out of the frame. After a collision near the first base bag, both benches emptied and three participants were ejected: Miami assistant coach Gino DiMare, Texas Tech first baseman Eric Gutierrez and Texas Tech first base coach J-Bob Thomas.

Salas, who struggled with his command in the early going, sharpened over the middle innings. On the 99th and final pitch of his outing, Salas struck out Matt Broadbent, stranding a runner and maintaining the 1-0 deficit.

Sophomore Thomas Woodrey entered in relief at the start of the sixth, and retired the first batter he faced before exiting due to heavy rain. The delay lasted 38 minutes before play resumed, but only for four minutes before the tarp was pulled once again. After another lengthy delay – this one 79 minutes long – the Hurricanes and Red Raiders resumed play. Drozd, who returned to the mound when play resumed Monday, pitched a scoreless seventh, while Woodrey and freshman Cooper Hammond combined to match Drozd.

Garcia pitched three scoreless innings, striking out three batters while allowing just one walk, to improve his record to 7-4.