Hurricanes Dominate Fighting Irish to Push Series to Game Three
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami baseball team (31-22, 15-13 ACC) pummelled the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (31-20, 13-16 ACC) by a final score of 15-1 in seven innings Friday night at Mark Light Field. A dominant nine-run second inning broke the game wide open for the Hurricanes.
Miami right-hander AJ Ciscar (5-1) earned the win for the Hurricanes, tossing six innings of three-hit ball. The freshman pitcher allowed one earned run, walked one, and struck out six on 73 pitches.
Notre Dame starter Rory Fox (4-4) was charged with the loss after surrendering four runs, two earned, in just one inning of work.
The Hurricanes sparked the offensive fireworks in the opening inning, beginning with senior Dorian Gonzalez Jr., who capped a 12-pitch at-bat with a sacrifice fly to put Miami ahead, 1-0.
Tanner Smith followed with a sacrifice fly of his own, doubling the lead. A throwing error by Notre Dame allowed Daniel Cuvet to score, and Renzo Gonzalez added an RBI double to close out the four-run frame and give the Hurricanes a 4-0 advantage.
Gonzalez Jr., as he did in the first inning, ignited another offensive surge in the second. The Miami native launched a three-run home run to deep center field, extending the Hurricanes’ lead to 7-0.
Later in the inning, freshman Michael Torres reached on a fielder’s choice, but a fielding error by Notre Dame’s Estevan Moreno at shortstop would allow three Hurricanes to score, bumping the lead to 10-0.
The barrage continued as Jake Ogden launched his eighth home run of the season, a two-run shot that extended Miami’s lead to 12-0. The Hurricanes batted around in the inning, and Dorian Gonzalez Jr. returned to the plate to cap the nine-run frame with a two-RBI single to right field.
In the fourth, Daniel Cuvet crushed his 16th home run of the year to left-center, giving the Hurricanes a commanding 14-0 advantage. Notre Dame broke through in the sixth with a solo home run from designated hitter Davis Johnson, but Miami answered in the bottom half of the frame as Evan Taveras brought in another run to make it 15-1.
Right-hander Jackson Cleveland entered in the seventh in relief of AJ Ciscar and retired the side to close out the win for Miami.
The series finale between the Hurricanes and Fighting Irish is scheduled to commence Saturday at 1 p.m. at Mark Light Field, with live coverage on ACCNX and WVUM 90.5 FM.
Miami honored nine seniors and two senior student managers prior to Friday’s game, welcoming families and friends from across the country to take part in the pregame ceremony.
To stay up to date with the University of Miami baseball team, be sure to follow @canesbaseball on Instagram, X and Facebook.
