No. 22 Miami Falls to Penn State, 9-5
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The 22nd-ranked University of Miami baseball team dropped its season opener to Penn State, 9-5, in front of a near-capacity crowd Friday evening at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.
“Disappointing start, no doubt,” Miami head coach Gino DiMare said. “We didn’t get it done pitching wise. Offensively, we had the three home runs, but we didn’t have a lot of baserunners. Our guys never quit, but we just didn’t play well.”
The Nittany Lions (1-0) jumped ahead early with four runs in the second inning and kept the veteran Hurricanes’ lineup off balance.
Penn State starter Travis Luensmann (1-0) held Miami (0-1) to just two hits across five frames, punching out four batters along the way.
The Hurricanes rallied late, scoring four times over the final three innings, but the Nittany Lions’ bullpen secured the win.
“We had a handful of counts in our favor and just didn’t do a good job,” DiMare said. “We have to do a better job of being disciplined…Overall, just a not a good game. A little humbling, certainly. It’s not the way we wanted to come out.”
After Penn State loaded the bases in the second, shortstop Jay Harry plated three tallies with a double to right field. Designated hitter Thomas Bramley followed with an RBI extra-base hit, pushing the Nittany Lions’ lead to 4-0.
Penn State put up a three-spot in the eighth, extending its lead to seven.
Miami answered with three of its own in the bottom half, highlighted by Ian Farrow’s first hit as a Hurricane. Farrow’s two-run homer traveled an estimated 425 feet.
Juniors Dominic Pitelli and Zach Levenson also recorded their first round-trippers of the season, but the Hurricanes only finished with six hits.
Miami right-hander Gage Ziehl (0-1) was tagged with the loss in his first career collegiate start. Ziehl went the first two innings before giving way to righty Ben Chestnutt.
In the defeat, fourth-year redshirt sophomore Alejandro Torres shined out of the bullpen, pitching a career-long 2 2/3 frames, while totaling four strikeouts.
The Hurricanes will look to even the series against the Nittany Lions Saturday. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. at Mark Light Field.
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