Miami Edged by No. 10 Florida State in Series Opener
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — It felt like Déjá vu.
Against another top-10 team, the Miami Hurricanes held their own.
But, once again, the Hurricanes came up just short, falling to the 10th-ranked Florida State Seminoles, 5-4, in front of 5,856 fans Thursday evening at Dick Howser Stadium.
“Same story, man,” head coach J.D. Arteaga said. “It was a good college baseball game and there were a couple plays that we didn’t make defensively that cost us three runs. It’s been the same message after every game. We’re playing hard and doing a lot of good things, but we’ve got to clean it up. We have to make those plays.”
Florida State (28-5, 8-5 ACC) raced out to an early lead, capitalizing on a Miami miscue to put up a three-spot in the third inning.
After Seminoles starter Jamie Arnold (7-1) kept the Hurricanes (16-17, 6-10 ACC) hitless through four frames, Miami got to the sophomore southpaw.
Right fielder Lucas Costello came through with a two-run double before shortstop JD Urso tied things up with an RBI single.
In the seventh, Florida State made the Hurricanes pay for another defensive blunder.
After shortstop Alex Lodise reached on an error, outfielder Max Williams smacked a two-run homer two pitches later to put the Seminoles ahead, 5-3.
Miami center fielder Jacoby Long socked a solo shot to pull the Hurricanes within one in the eighth, but Florida State right-hander Joe Charles (2) tossed a 1-2-3 ninth to seal the win.
Arnold, who entered the night with an ACC-leading 0.94 ERA, surrendered three runs over seven innings to record the win.
Despite only allowing two earned runs across seven innings, Miami starter Gage Ziehl (2-3) was tagged with the loss.
“He’s been amazing,” Arteaga said of the junior right-hander, who has tossed at least 6 2/3 innings in five straight outings. “It’s another hard-luck loss for him. He pitched well enough to win, especially on short rest. Being the bulldog that he is, he shows up every time we give him the ball.”
With the defeat, each of the Hurricanes’ last four losses have come by a tally, as Miami is now 6-6 in one-run games.
The Hurricanes will look to even the series Friday. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Dick Howser Stadium.
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