No. 22 Miami Drops Series Finale to No. 6 Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — After splitting the first two contests of the three-game set, the 22nd-ranked University of Miami baseball team fell to the sixth-ranked Florida Gators in the series finale, 14-4, Sunday afternoon at Condron Family Ballpark.
“It’s disappointing,” Miami head coach Gino DiMare said. “We felt good coming into this game, but it’s tough when you fall behind like that. Our guys kept fighting. We had that one ball that was hit hard and if the guy doesn’t make that catch, it’s a three-run game. They swung the bat well. They had the home run ball today. We spotted them a lot of runs early and we just can’t do that. We have to learn from this.”
Despite trailing the Gators (10-3) by nine runs through the first three innings, the Hurricanes (8-4) kept battling.
Miami mounted four unanswered runs, highlighted by a three-spot in the eighth.
Sophomore Edgardo Villegas and juniors Yohandy Morales and Zach Levenson all drove in a run to bring the Hurricanes within striking distance.
With two runners in scoring position and only one out, freshman Blake Cyr, who homered twice and plated seven in Miami’s 14-6 win Saturday, smoked a hard liner to the left side of the infield.
Florida shortstop Josh Rivera leaped and pulled down Cyr’s missile and doubled off the baserunner at second to get out of the jam.
The Gators answered with five tallies of their own in the home half to punctuate the weekend.
Florida totaled four home runs Sunday, as catcher BT Riopelle and right fielder Ty Evans combined for seven RBI.
Sophomore left-handed pitcher Jac Caglianone (2-0) earned the victory, tossing six innings of one-run baseball. Caglianone yielded just four hits and one walk, while striking out eight.
Miami hurler Alejandro Rosario (1-1) was tagged with the loss after lasting just 1 1/3 frames.
Right-handers Alejandro Torres and Ben Chestnutt teamed up to throw 4 2/3 scoreless innings of relief, surrendering only two hits.
Following their four-game road swing, the Hurricanes host the Jacksonville Dolphins at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field Wednesday. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.
To keep up with the University of Miami baseball team on social media, follow @CanesBaseball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
