Canes Extend Win Streak to Five with 7-1 Win
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Miami Hurricanes continued their winning ways Wednesday night, capturing a 7-1 victory over visiting FGCU at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.
Behind seven strong innings from junior righthander Andrew Cabezas and a well-rounded offensive output, the win extended Miami’s season-long winning streak to five straight games and clinched the season series with FGCU.
Cabezas, who tossed just one inning Sunday before a lengthy rain delay ended his outing against Bethune-Cookman, returned to the hill and overpowered the Eagles (31-16) in front of 2,130 fans.
Though he walked a career high-tying five batters, Cabezas (6-4) struck out seven and allowed just one unearned run on one hit to pick up his team-high sixth win.
“I thought I was going to be limited to pitch, but [Coach Morris] told me, ‘No, it’s a normal game for you,'” Cabezas said. “That’s all I needed to hear.”
Miami (22-25) received multi-hit efforts from junior Danny Reyes along with freshman Dylan Cloonan and Raymond Gil, nine different Hurricanes reached base and five players recorded RBI in the win.
Cloonan and Gil combined for five hits and four RBI, as Miami out-hit FGCU 10-3.
That was more than enough for Cabezas, who was in control from the outset other than a fifth where FGCU took advantage of mistakes to plate a run and cut Miami’s lead to one at 2-1.
“Fastball. Fastball command. I was just trying to get strike one,” Cabezas said of his key to success. “I got a little flustered, I think it was the [fifth], where I started walking [a few] of the guys. But I started figuring it towards the end.”
The Hurricanes made amends against FGCU starter Evan Lumbert, who delivered eight shutout innings against Miami in a 1-0 win in Fort Myers, Fla., back on March 28.
Lumbert (6-3) was tagged for six hits and five runs in just 5.2 innings. The Hurricanes forced the talented righthander into 121 pitches, drawing four walks on the night to help clinch the season series.
In the other dugout, Cabezas battled his way on short notice. He threw 39 pitches against Bethune-Cookman before a one-hour, 39-minute rain delay signaled the end of his afternoon.
“It happened right when they pulled me on Sunday,” Cabezas said. “They told me, ‘Look, this is the gameplan. You’re going to pitch against FGCU.'”
Miami won on April 18, 8-1, and got more of the same Wednesday in a strong all-around performance.
The Hurricanes opened the scoring in the second on an RBI single from Cloonan, tacked onto it in the third on an RBI groundout from senior Michael Burns, and pushed their lead to 5-1 with a three-run sixth.
RBI singles from junior Romy Gonzalez and Reyes in the seventh capped the game’s scoring.
Redshirt senior Cooper Hammond tossed the final two innings to seal the win.
“Let’s just keep being loose, keep playing baseball,” Cabezas said. “Right now we’re starting to click…everyone’s hitting, we’re playing good defense, pitching well. Everything is going well for us, and we have to keep it up.”
The Hurricanes travel to Blacksburg, Va., for a series with host Virginia Tech from May 11-13 at English Field at Union Park. First pitch for Friday’s series opener, slated for broadcast on ACC Network Extra and WVUM 90.5 FM, is set for 6 p.m.
