#SweepSunday: Miami Finishes Off Jaspers in Finale

Miami74Manhattan

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Edgar Michelangeli | R-Jr. The redshirt junior recorded his third consecutive three-hit day, finishing 3-for-4 with two RBI to raise his batting average to .371.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – No. 6 Miami broke a scoreless tie with a seven-run fourth inning, as the Hurricanes cruised to a series sweep of visiting Manhattan with a 7-4 victory at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.

The Hurricanes (9-2), who did not record a hit off Jaspers starter Joe Jacques until a single from junior Zack Collins in the decisive fourth, did all of their damage in the frame where they sent 12 batters to the plate.

Junior Danny Garcia, who suffered early struggles against top-ranked Florida last time out, delivered a strong performance of his own on the hill in front of 2,659.

“It was a good day, and a good weekend for our guys,” head coach Jim Morris said. “I thought overall this weekend, we played well.”

Garcia (2-1) scattered five hits in an efficient 75-pitch outing spanning six innings. He struck out three, did not walk a batter and helped extend Miami’s winning streak to a season-long four games.

An RBI single from Johnny Ruiz scored redshirt junior Christopher Barr to open the scoring in the fourth at 1-0.

Jacques (0-1) settled down to retire the next two batters, but a two-RBI single from redshirt junior Edgar Michelangeli through the left side made it 3-0 in favor of the hosts.

Freshman Romy Gonzalez reached on an error from Anthony Rocchietti that plated senior Brandon Lopez to make it 4-0, and a wild pitch by Jacques scored Michelangeli to add another run.

A two-RBI single from Collins – his second hit of the inning, which helped raised his average to .433 – made it 7-0 by inning’s end.

Six of Miami’s seven runs in the inning were scored with two outs.

“Everyone all around the order was getting hits and driving in runs,” Collins said. “We had confidence. We had everybody’s back. I think we made good adjustments today.”

Collins finished the game 2-for-3 with two RBI and also drew a walk, while Michelangeli finished the game with a career high-tying three hits (3-for-4), raising his average to .371.

Michelangeli recorded his third consecutive three-hit game; for the week, the Miami native hit .667 (10-for-15), scored six runs, drove in five, walked twice and did not strike out.

“We know we’re a good hitting team,” said Michelangeli when asked about the team’s rebound weekend after a disappointing performance against Florida. “We had a down week, but we came back this week and bounced back from it.”

With a comfortable lead, Garcia cruised. The junior lefthander set down the side in the fifth and worked his way a one-out single in the sixth before giving way to freshman righthander Frankie Bartow.

Only three of the runs charged to Jacques across his five innings were earned. The lefthander allowed four hits and four walks in an 108-pitch outing.

Though the Jaspers tagged Bartow for three runs in the seventh, junior Cooper Hammond tossed a scoreless eighth and junior closer Bryan Garcia allowed just a single run on a solo home run from Fabian Pena to clinch the win.

The Hurricanes outhit the Jaspers 39-20 on the weekend, and scored 31 runs compared to just eight for Manhattan.

“A lot of guys got hits, but the hottest guy was Edgar..it’s good to see him come on,” Morris said. “He’s worked very hard to get himself in this position.”

The Hurricanes return to Mark Light Field Tuesday for the first of a midweek pair. Miami will host Maine at 6 p.m. on March 8 and then Stetson at 6 p.m. on March 9. Both games are set for broadcast on ESPN3 and WatchESPN.