No. 23 Miami Completes Sweep of Florida State
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The 2023 University of Miami baseball team joined illustrious company Sunday afternoon.
Miami completed a weekend-sweep of rival Florida State for the eighth time in school history.
Behind a career-day from Alejandro Rosario, the 23rd-ranked Hurricanes chopped down the Seminoles, 13-4, in front of a near-sellout crowd at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.
“Just a huge, huge weekend. Our guys did one heck of a job to sweep our rival,” Miami head coach Gino DiMare said. “I can’t recall the last time we had three starters all pitch into the eighth. Those are the three best starts I can recall here. They definitely set the tone for the weekend.”
After sophomores Karson Ligon and Gage Ziehl quieted the Seminoles (12-15, 3-9 ACC) Friday and Saturday, respectively, Rosario followed suit for the Hurricanes (19-9, 8-4 ACC).
The junior struck out a career-high 12 batters across a career-long eight innings to cap off Miami’s first perfect weekend against Florida State since 2001.
After the visitors leveled the score with a bases-clearing triple in the fourth, Rosario settled in.
The right-hander retired the final 14 batters he faced, fanning eight Seminoles during that stretch. Rosario’s dozen punchouts marked the most by an ACC pitcher in a conference game so far this season.
“I focused on attacking and going right after them,” Rosario said. “I got better as the game went on. I hit a bump in the road, but my team picked me up when I needed to get picked up. My mentality is something I’ve improved on big time.”
Junior Zach Levenson and freshman Blake Cyr backed Rosario in the bottom of the fourth, crushing home runs on back-to-back pitches to catapult the Hurricanes ahead, 7-4.
Levenson’s two-run jack to straightaway center traveled 409 feet, while Cyr’s solo shot sailed over the left-field scoreboard.
“The home run have been our way of scoring,” DiMare said. “You can’t defend a home run so that’s always good.”
Levenson padded Miami’s lead with an RBI single in the sixth, as the right fielder finished a triple shy of the cycle.
The Hurricanes punctuated the sweep, plating five tallies in the eighth, highlighted by Dominic Pitelli’s three-run blast.
Overall, Miami outscored Florida State, 27-6, on the weekend.
Following their fourth straight win, the Hurricanes close out their five-game homestand Tuesday with instate foe UCF. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
“We’ve got a really tough stretch coming up here,” DiMare said. “It’s we are now 8-4 in the ACC, sitting in a good position because we’ve some really good teams we’ve got to face coming up.”
To keep up with the University of Miami baseball team on social media, follow @CanesBaseball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
