Canes Close Out Sweep of App State

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Miami got nine RBI from the middle of its order, powering the Hurricanes to victory over App State, 10-2.

Only inclement weather appeared to slow Miami’s offense, as the Canes (27-15) scored 10 unanswered runs against App State (16-26) in a shortened six-inning game before a sold-out crowd of 612 fans inside Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.

“I’m pleased obviously with the sweep, winning the three games over the weekend,” head coach Gino DiMare said. “It was kind of an unusual day with the weather and everything and not knowing how many innings we’d play. Overall, I’m happy with the win.”

The Mountaineers’ offense got off to its best start of the weekend, opening the game with a pair of hits before Bailey Welch scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Kendall McGowan. App State added another run with two outs in the inning when Yohandy Morales’ errant throw to first allowed Luke Drumheller to score from second, extending the inning and making it 2-0.

But Miami answered in the bottom of the first, as App State starter Quinton Martinez walked Tony Jenkins and Anthony Vilar to open the game and Adrian Del Castillo drove them both home with a one-out double to left. Christian Del Castillo followed with an RBI double that put Miami ahead, 3-2, and Raymond Gil capped the four-run inning with an RBI single to center.

“Offensively, it was nice to see our three, four and five hitters do so well because we haven’t produced the way we’d like to, especially Yoyo and Del,” DiMare said. “We’ve got to get those guys going. Delly has been great all year, but we know Yoyo and Del are so talented. If we get those guys going and those three in the middle lineup, we could be very potent.”

After a two-hour and 19-minute weather delay, right-hander Jason Cornatzer took the mound for App State and Miami mounted a two-out rally against the reliever. Vilar doubled off the wall in left-center before scoring on an RBI single up the middle from Yohandy Morales. Christian Del Castillo added an RBI single, sending home Morales to make it 6-2.

Morales and the Del Castillos combined to go 8-for-10 with 9 RBI on Sunday, powering Miami’s sweep-clinching win.

“We were just trying to match each other,” Morales said. “I’d get a hit and then Del gets a hit and his brother gets it, so it was fun and exciting to watch. We were just all going back and forth but the whole team was hitting good today. Everything went well for us.”

True freshman Victor Mederos took the mound in the top of the third, replacing starter Jake Garland, and the right-hander retired the side in order in his first inning of work. But Mederos got out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the fourth, striking out Peyton Idol and applying the tag on Dalton Williams trying to score after the ball got away from Adrian Del Castillo behind the plate.

Christian Del Castillo added his third RBI hit of the game with a two-out flare to left that drove in Morales and gave the Hurricanes a five-run lead after four innings. Morales cleared the bases in the fifth with a three-run double to left that put him at four runs batted in on the day and capped the scoring for the Hurricanes.

“It was a great day for the team today, a great team win and especially on Mother’s Day in front of our parents and mothers,” Morales said. “Everybody came out and did a really great job so it was an exciting one for us.”

Miami is back in action next weekend, hosting ACC foe Georgia Tech in the final home weekend series of the 2021 regular season.