Miami’s Rally Falls Short in Series Finale at Virginia
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Miami baseball team (30-21, 14-12 ACC) fell to Virginia, 8-6, Sunday afternoon at Disharoon Park. Despite a late rally in the final innings, the Hurricanes were unable to complete the comeback against the Cavaliers (30-16, 14-10 ACC).
Tomas Valincius (4-1) earned the win for Virginia after tossing 6 1/3 innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits while striking out seven. Miami starter Tate DeRias (2-1) took the loss, surrendering six earned runs on six hits over 3 1/3 innings. Matt Lanzendorfer closed the door in the ninth to record his fourth save of the season.
The Cavaliers carried their offensive momentum from Saturday into the series finale as Henry Ford launched a two-run homer to left field in his first trip to the plate, giving Virginia an early 2-0 lead.
Jacob Ference laced a two-out single into left field in the bottom of the third inning, driving in two more Cavaliers and extending Virginia’s lead to 4-0. Miami struggled to respond, as the Hurricanes were held to just one hit by starter Tomas Valincus through the first three frames.
Virginia continued their attack in the fourth inning, plating four runs to widen their lead. Leadoff hitter Aidan Teel brought in a run with a groundout RBI, followed by back-to-back RBI doubles from Eric Becker and Henry Ford that pushed the score to 7-0.
The Miami bats came alive in the seventh inning, erupting for a five-run frame to cut into Virginia’s lead. Gaby Gutierrez sparked the rally with an RBI double that plated Renzo Gonzalez and put the Hurricanes on the board. Two batters later, Jake Ogden, who finished 3-for-3 in the series finale, singled to center field, scoring Tanner Smith to trim the deficit to 7-2.
With two outs and runners on the corners following Ogden’s hit, Daniel Cuvet blasted a line-drive, three-run homer to right field, his second of the series and 15th of the season, bringing Miami within striking distance at 7-5.
Cuvet’s home run was a historic one, as it moved the sophomore into a tie for tenth place on Miami baseball’s all-time home run list with 39 career blasts, tying Randy Guerra (1976-79) and Manny Crespo (1998-00).
Virginia’s Henry Ford extended the Cavaliers’ lead in the eighth inning with a solo home run to left field, making it an 8-5 ballgame. With a scoreless eighth frame – the Hurricanes had one final opportunity in the top of the ninth.
Jake Ogden drew his second walk of the game to open the frame and later stole second base. Max Galvin followed with a single to right-center, putting runners on the corners. Cuvet delivered once again, driving in Ogden with an RBI single to pull Miami within two runs with no outs.
However, the Hurricanes’ rally came up short, as back-to-back strikeouts and a flyout to center field ended the game and sealed the win for Virginia.
The Hurricanes will return to Mark Light Field to face Notre Dame for the final three-game series of the regular season, with first pitch slated for Thursday at 7 p.m.
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