No. 17 Miami Falls to No. 2 Wake Forest, 4-1
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — The 17th-ranked Miami Hurricanes came up short to the second-ranked Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 4-1, Saturday afternoon at David F. Couch Ballpark.
“They’re a really good team and we have to play better,” Miami head coach Gino DiMare said. “We made some mistakes that gave them two of their four runs. We have to play cleaner baseball. When you’re playing a really good team, you can’t afford to make mistakes like we did.”
After the Hurricanes (15-8, 5-3 ACC) took a 1-0 lead behind Yohandy Morales’ co-team-high sixth home run, the Demon Deacons (21-3, 6-2 ACC) responded immediately.
Sophomore first baseman Nick Kurtz evened the score with a sacrifice fly in the bottom half, setting the stage for a pitchers’ duel.
Following the first-inning tally, Miami starter Gage Ziehl (3-3) retried 13 of the next 14 Demon Deacons.
Ziehl pitched through the potent Wake Forest lineup three times, limiting the Deacs to three runs on six hits in 6 2/3 innings.
“He pitched good enough to win,” DiMare said. “This is a tough ballpark to pitch in. I thought he threw outstanding and was very efficient. He battled through it, but we didn’t help him defensively.”
Wake Forest starter Sean Sullivan (4-1) matched Ziehl over the first five frames, fanning eight Hurricanes.
Sophomore center fielder Tommy Hawke pushed across the game-winning tally for the Demon Deacons with an RBI single in the fifth.
Redshirt junior outfielder Pierce Bennett tacked on a pair of insurance runs with a double in both the sixth and eighth.
Wake Forest’s bullpen secured the series win, as the Demon Deacons’ three right-handed relievers combined to silence the Hurricanes the rest of the way.
Junior Camden Minacci (6) recorded the save with a 1-2-3 ninth.
The Hurricanes and Demon Deacons conclude the three-game set Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m.
“Our offense has picked us up for most of the year, but we’re going through a bit of hiccup over the last two games,” DiMare said. “You have to give their pitching credit, but we have to bear down. These are the types of pitchers we’re going to face if we want to get to where we want to go.”
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