Miami Edges FIU, 6-5

MIAMI — The Hurricanes started their final week of the regular season off on the right foot.

With timely hitting and crucial stops on the mound, Miami downed its crosstown foe FIU, 6-5, Tuesday evening.

“Pitching wise, we knew our plan coming in was not to overstretch anybody,” head coach J.D. Arteaga said. “All in all, we did a good job. We had a chance to break the game open in the eighth and didn’t. [Myles Caba] did a great job of slamming the door shut.”

The Hurricanes (24-27) stormed out to an early 2-0 advantage in the first, as infielders Daniel Cuvet and Dorian Gonzalez Jr. each plated tallies with base hits in the opening frame.

FIU (25-26) answered back with runs in both the second and third frames, before taking its lone lead of the night on Ryne Guida’s sacrifice fly in the fifth.

Miami responded by scoring in each of the next three innings and the Hurricanes’ bullpen held off the late rally to lock down the win.

Junior Edgardo Villegas plated the go-ahead run in the seventh with a bases-loaded walk.

Freshman right-hander Brandon Olivera (2-0) earned the victory in relief, striking out a career-high six across a career-long 3 1/3 innings.

“He pitched a lot better,” Arteaga said. “He wasn’t overthrowing. He was in the zone and getting his breaking ball over. All of the typical things freshmen are going to go through, he’s starting to figure it out and become more of a pitcher.”d

Caba (2) recorded the save with a scoreless ninth.

With the victory, the Hurricanes have won 12 of their last 13 contests against the Panthers.

Miami will close out its regular season slate with the Pitt Panthers at Mark Light Field. The three-game set is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Thursday.

“The biggest game of the year was tonight against FIU,” Arteaga said. “We did our job and won the game. Our next biggest game is Thursday night against Pitt.”

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