Miami Falls in Series Finale Against No. 19 NC State
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — After securing the series Saturday, Miami couldn’t complete the sweep one day later, as the Hurricanes fell to the 19th-ranked NC State Wolfpack, 14-4, at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.
“For whatever reason, we just didn’t get it done today,” Miami head coach Gino DiMare said. “It was a very poor effort from all the guys. We had an opportunity to sweep and we weren’t able to do that. Fortunately, we were able to take the series…It does leave a bad taste in your mouth losing that Sunday game.”
NC State (14-2, 1-2 ACC) scored in seven of the nine frames in a wire-to-wire win.
The Wolfpack smacked three homers and totaled 16 hits, including nine for extra bases in the finale.
Miami (10-6, 2-1 ACC) mounted four tallies over the last two innings, but the Pack’s potent offense was too much.
NC State senior center fielder Parker Nolan finished 4-for-4 with three doubles and a home run, reaching safely five times.
Sophomore catcher Jacob Cozart and senior right fielder Trevor Candelaria both left the yard and notched multi-hit efforts in the visitor’s first ACC victory.
Fourth-year junior right-hander Sam Highfill (3-0) earned the win with 3 2/3 innings pitched out of the bullpen. Highfill allowed one unearned run on three hits, while striking out five along the way.
Miami starter Alejandro Rosario (1-2) took the loss, tossing the first three innings. The junior punched out seven Wolfpack batters but yielded six earned runs.
Up next, the Hurricanes face crosstown foe FIU. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m. at FIU Baseball Stadium.
“Winning the series is a positive thing,” DiMare said. “We beat a team on Friday that was undefeated. We got out of the gate 2-1 in ACC play…For the most part, the offense did a pretty job until today. We definitely need to be ready to play Wednesday. Hopefully we can take what we did in the first two games into our midweek game with FIU.”
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