Miami Run Rules No. 15 North Carolina, 14-1
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — They had been dubbed, ‘The Cardiac Canes.’
Friday night against No. 15 North Carolina, the Miami Hurricanes didn’t need any late rally or Mark Light Magic.
The Hurricanes stormed out to an early lead and never looked back, as Miami cruised to a 14-1 win over the Tar Heels in seven innings.
“We put a complete game together,” head coach J.D. Arteaga said. “I told the team Sunday, we still haven’t played a complete game. When we do, we’re going to be a very good team, and we showed that today.”
Miami (10-7, 3-1 ACC) scored in five of its six trips to the plate, pounding out 16 hits en route to its first run-rule victory since the ACC implemented a 10-run rule ahead of this season.
Reigning ACC Player of the Week Blake Cyr led the charge against the Tar Heels (16-3, 3-1 ACC) with a three-hit performance, smacking a pair of two-run homers in both the first and second frames, respectively.
Cyr’s blasts sandwiched a Lorenzo Carrier solo shot in the second to put the Hurricanes in front, 5-0.
“I was not trying to do too much,” said Cyr following his third career multi-homer game. “We’ve wanted to try and get things going early and not get going in the sixth inning. I’m glad tonight we finally got to show everyone what we can do when we get the bats going.”
Miami mounted three more tallies in the fourth, scored twice in the fifth and pushed the lead to 11 with a four-spot in the sixth.
All nine starting position players reached base, with six Hurricanes notching multi-hit efforts.
On the bump, Gage Ziehl (1-1) tossed the first complete game by a Miami hurler since Jeb Bargfeldt accomplished the feat against Boston College in a nine-inning contest on May 17, 2018.
Ziehl limited the potent North Carolina offense to just one run on five hits. The junior ace struck out six across a 94-pitch outing.
“It feels great,” Ziehl said. “My defense was making great plays behind me too. The bats help when they put up five runs in two or three innings, but it doesn’t change my approach.”
UNC freshman Folger Boaz (2-1) picked up his first career loss after lasting just 3 2/3 innings. Boaz was charged with eight runs.
With the victory, the Hurricanes snapped the Tar Heels’ 11-game winning streak, their longest streak in nearly seven years. Miami has now won six of its last seven meetings with North Carolina, dating back 2022.
The Hurricanes will look to secure a top-15 series for the second straight weekend on Saturday. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. at Mark Light Field.
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