Big Inning Vaults No. 17 Miami Past FAU, 10-5
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Another day, another comeback win.
Heading into the bottom of the fourth inning, Miami trailed FAU, 4-0.
But as they’ve done time and time again, the Hurricanes rallied in grand fashion.
No. 17 Miami mounted a seven-run fourth and cruised the rest of the way to a 10-5 victory over the Owls Wednesday evening at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.
“It’s a good job by our offensive coming back,” Miami head coach Gino DiMare said. “It was a bit of a slow start for them, but then we had the big inning—seven runs—which got it done for us and we added to it. Certainly, not a perfect game, not the way we draw it up, but at the end of the day, we’re trying to win games. Our guys did a good job of hanging in there and just finding a way to battle back and get it done.”
Miami freshman Blake Cyr broke up the shutout with a three-run shot to spark the Hurricanes (15-6).
Three batters later, junior catcher Carlos Perez tied the game with an RBI double down the right field line, setting the stage for the reigning ACC Player of the Week CJ Kayfus.
Kayfus clobbered a hanging breaking ball and parked it over the right field fence, finishing off the crooked frame. For the junior first baseman, the three-run jack marked his third homer in his last six at-bats.
Cyr and junior shortstop Dominic Pitelli pushed the Hurricanes’ lead to 9-2 with a sacrifice fly and run-scoring double, respectively.
Pitelli punctuated the offensive outburst with another RBI double in the eighth, tallying his co-career-high fourth hit en route to the Hurricanes’ seventh double-digit effort of the season.
After fifth-year senior Carlos Lequerica tossed the first 1 1/3 in his first start as a Hurricane, Miami’s bullpen quieted the Owls (12-10).
Sophomore left-hander Rafe Schlesinger struck out a pair across a career-long 2 2/3 scoreless innings before freshman southpaw Chris Scinta retired all nine batters he faced.
Veteran right-handers Alejandro Torres and Andrew Walters teamed up for the final six outs to secure the Hurricanes’ fifth straight win.
As a bullpen, Miami held FAU to one run on four hits in 7 2/3 frames.
Following an undefeated homestand, the Hurricanes hit the road to face No. 2 Wake Forest. The three-game set begins at 8 p.m. Friday at David F. Couch Ballpark.
“We have a great opportunity,” DiMare said. When you play on the road, the stakes are even higher if you win. At the end of the day, I just want us to play good baseball. I wants us to pitch well, I want us to hit well, I want us to defend well and I want us to run the bases well. If we do those things, we’re going to win a lot of games.”
To keep up with the University of Miami baseball team on social media, follow @CanesBaseball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
