Canes Best FAU in Fall Game, 7-4
By JP Castañeda
HurricaneSports.com
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Miami Hurricanes were back at The Light Saturday afternoon, climbing back to win its fall game against FAU, 7-4.
The Canes and Owls met for a fall exhibition contest for the second straight year and, once again, it featured some unique rules. The two sides played 12-inning scrimmage and in each half inning five batters came to the plate before both teams would switch sides.
Redshirt senior Brian Van Belle got the start for the Canes and the savvy veteran turned in a strong three-inning outing. Van Belle had six strikeouts, no walks and retired 12 of the 15 batters he faced, while only allowing three hits. FAU made their hits against the All-ACC pitcher count, as Bobby Morgensen belted a pair of solo homers against Van Belle.
Miami had a solo shot of its own in the second inning, a no-doubter by junior outfielder Gabe Rivera that landed just left of the batter’s eye in center field. The Canes threatened again in the third with runners on second and third, but were unable to tie the game at 2.
Right-hander Chris McMahon followed Van Belle on the bump and the Owls had some early success against the junior. FAU scored two runs on six hits over the first two innings McMahon pitched to extend its lead to three, 4-1, but McMahon settled down in the sixth and retired four of the five batters in his final inning.
Miami’s bats got back to work in the fifth, as Adrian Del Castillo tripled down the right field line to drive in Anthony Vilar. The Canes added three more runs in the following inning when Tyler Page stepped up to the plate and belted a three-run homer over the left field fence to give Miami its first lead of the game, 5-4.
Sophomore Slade Cecconi was next on the mound for Miami and he was very impressive. The right-hander threw three no-hit innings, walking just one batter and striking out six Owls to stifle the FAU bats.
Riding the momentum of Cecconi’s strong pitching, Miami added on in the bottom of the ninth. Senior outfielder Chad Crosbie led off the inning with a ground rule double that bounced over the right-center field fence. Isaac Quiñones then crushed a two-out line drive just out of reach of the FAU second basemen to give the Canes a 6-4 lead going into the tenth inning.
The Hurricanes extended their lead in the eleventh, as Quiñones singled over the shortstop to drive in freshman Jared Thomas from second base to close out the scoring for the day with a 7-4 Miami advantage.
Tyler Keysor was the final arm to pitch for Miami and the senior shut the door on the UM victory. The right-hander tossed three scoreless innings that included five strikeouts, while only allowing one hit to wrap up the win for the Canes.
