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Miami’s pitching was outstanding this weekend, overcoming the handicap posed by the Tar Heels’10th player on their roster—the Miami defense. They decisively held off a 9th-inning rally to clinch the final game of the series 4-2. Despite struggling with errors and poor judgment throughout the weekend, the bats finally came alive today, highlighted by Daniel’s bases-clearing hit in the 9th, which broke the tie and catapulted the Canes to a commanding 3-run lead.
With one out remaining and a runner on first to secure the victory, Williams in right field made a costly mistake by attempting a diving catch on a sinking fly ball that slipped past him. This misplay resulted in a triple and an RBI, allowing the tying run to step up to the plate. Giroux brought the count to within one strike of securing the victory, and Kipley, who had been hitless today, hit a hard grounder to the left of Dorian. Dorian made a great pick, finalizing the victory and avoiding another potential disaster of errors and poor decisions. Miami, bolstered by excellent pitching, a game-saving play by Ogden in the 5th inning, and a bases-clearing single by Cuvet in the 9th, was the key element today as they won 4-2 against the 21st-ranked Tar Heels.
Changes to the lineup due to reported food poisoning yesterday led to the return of Bobby Marsh as DH. Tanner Smith remains sidelined for today’s game, with Ethan Puig making his first start at third base. Jake has moved back to his regular position at shortstop. Also making his first start was freshman pitcher AJ Ciscar on the bump.
Today’s game started with a disappointing turn, as Kane Kipley, the lead-off batter, was awarded first base on a highly questionable hit-by-pitch call. The review upheld this controversial decision. Luke Stevenson should have grounded into a double play, but the ball slipped under Daniel Cuvet’s glove at first base, leaving runners on the corners. A subsequent ground out allowed the runner from third to score, contributing yet another unearned run to the Canes’ ongoing defensive struggles throughout this series.
Despite a disappointing opening inning, AJ maintained his confidence on the mound. The Heels got a runner on base in the next three innings but failed to capitalize with any runs. In the 4th inning, a review call for runner interference at second hampered Ogden’s throw to first, ending the inning.
Regardless of whether AJ was on a pitch count, JD made the decision to switch from a smoothly operating game to the unpredictable Nick Robert, the former Friday starter. The mistake of this decision became clear to JD after just 27 pitches, as Robert proceeded to load the bases with two walks and a single. With the game teetering on the brink of disaster, JD called to the bullpen, bringing in Alex Giroux. On a 0-1 count, Sam Angelo smashed a line drive up the middle, where Jake executed a spectacular diving catch and made the throw to first to get Angelo out. This was not just the play of the game; at that crucial moment, it felt like a game-saver, pulling the team out of an insurmountable predicament. It definitely marked a pivotal turning point in the game.
Through the 5th inning, Miami had outhit the Heels 6 to 3 but had not scored any runs for their efforts. Miami had an opportunity to generate some runs in the 5th, but another controversial runner interference call, this time against the Canes, was made against Jake, who was laying down a sacrifice bunt with Torres on first. The throw to first was knocked out of the first baseman’s glove, but NC argued that Ogden had strayed out of the baseline, which, under review, upheld the challenge. Rather than having runners on the corners with one out, Torres had to return to first with two outs. Fabio followed with a single that, barring the reversal of the challenge, would have tied the score at one, with the potential for more runs to follow.
Miami got on the board in the following inning with a lead-off single by Williams, moving to second on a wild pitch, advancing to third on a Dorian ground out 6-3, and completing the cycle home thanks to another wild pitch. Considering our current performance, we will take the runs any way we can. The score is tied at one after six.
The score was tied at one as the teams entered the 9th inning, when the Miami bats finally came alive. A one-out walk to Mike Torres ignited the spark, leading to singles by Jake and Fabio that loaded the bases for Daniel. He delivered a hit to left field that cleared the bases, and thanks to a misplay by the left fielder, Daniel ended up at third. With Daniel on third and one out, the Heels made a pitching change after a walk put runners on the corners. For whatever reason, the Canes switched batters with a 1-1 count on Marsh, bringing in Gaby Gutierrez—a questionable decision. Gaby, facing two strikes, attempted a bunt. This was a poor choice, especially with Cuvet, who lacks speed for a squeeze play, and one out on the board. Unsurprisingly, Gaby hit the ball foul, resulting in the second out. Dorian then walked, loading the bases again, but Taveras’ grounding out concluded the inning, wasting the chance for more runs. Although they maintained a three-run lead, the Canes’ shaky defensive performance meant the game was far from secured.
The Canes proved once again that no lead is ever safe. Williams’ attempt at a shoestring catch resulted in a triple, allowing a run to score and bringing the tying run to the plate. If it had not been for the game-saving stop that concluded the match, the outcome would have been drastically different. Miami held on to avoid the sweep and clinched its second ACC victory.
Offensively, after a six-hit performance on Friday and being shut out and a four-hit, two-run showing on Saturday, the bats more than doubled their output in hits with 12, 11 of which are singles. The only extra-base hit came in the second inning, a double by Evan Taveras. Lacking the home run power of last year, each game is a challenge in itself. With runners in scoring position, we were only able to go 2-for-12, but batted overall .316. Scoreless for the first six innings, the offense continues to struggle. Today we left 12 stranded on base. Fabio Peralta and Derek Williams had a collective high with three hits each, and Daniel, with the key hit of the day, had a pair of singles. Small ball doesn’t win games, especially when you can’t string hits together, which has been our ongoing concern this season.
Pitching throughout the series kept us competitive all weekend. This series could have easily resulted in a sweep for us if not for our defensive performance. Griffin was exceptional, going the distance and allowing only three hits. Brian encountered problems yesterday in the 4th inning, with all their runs scoring due to a two-out error. Finally, a new face in the starting rotation, AJ Ciscar, allowed only two hits but was also let down by an error. JD must have had him on a pitch count because he was not ready to be relieved. I hope bringing Robert in as his reliever has finally registered with JD that nothing good comes from Nick as either a starter or a long reliever.
Defensively, the situation is dire. Thirty-one errors in twenty-nine games is frankly unacceptable, especially when several additional plays could easily have been deemed errors rather than hits. This team is set to struggle for the remainder of the year, and they must regroup in the off-season, ideally adopting a fresh coaching strategy that has been long overdue. Without significant changes, our defense, coupled with ineffective pitching and a lack of power hitters, will continue to undermine the program’s success.
Miami has decisively moved out of the cellar in the Conference and is now focused on maintaining a winning record above .500. The next challenge is FIU, scheduled for Wednesday night at 6:00 pm, followed by an away series against Pitt next weekend. As the search for a midweek starter continues, it is unclear whether JD will stick with the current rotational starters. It is certain, however, that Nick Robert’s name will not be part of the discussion; JD may very well have other ideas in mind.
