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In a tightly contested game, Miami narrowly secured the series victory against Stanford, with the outcome uncertain until the final out with bases loaded. Fans watched with bated breath as Stanford challenged the last play, questioning whether West juggled the ball on the throw from Cuvet. The game saw numerous miscues from both teams, with five errors in total, including two by the Canes. Despite this, a remarkable catch by Fabio in the third inning kept the game from taking a drastically different course before reaching the final inning.
Changes to the lineup included Dylan Dubovik replacing Max Galvin in left field, as Galvin has been struggling since his return, going 0-4 with three strikeouts last night. Fabio Peralta took over centerfield duties from Michael Torres, who has also faced similar hitting challenges since returning from injury.
Miami, after a quiet first inning with no baserunners, opened with Derek Williams drawing a walk. A pickoff attempt at first went past the first baseman, allowing Williams to advance to second. He then moved to third on Alvarez’s groundout to first. With runners on the corners, Dubovik hit a single to right-center, bringing in the game’s first run.
Miami had a scoring opportunity in the third inning with a two-out rally. Sosa and William each singled consecutively, and both advanced a base after the shortstop’s throwing error to second, recognizing he wouldn’t be able to get William out at first. With runners on second and third, West flew out to center field, ending the inning and leaving Miami with two runners stranded.
After Alonzo Collera retired the first six batters he faced, Stanford opened the third inning with a lead-off double, breaking his perfect game and creating an opportunity for the Cardinal bats to cause damage, which resulted in three runs. Following the double, a single to right field got past Dubovik’s glove—something that has happened to him before—allowing the runner from second to score and tying the game at one. An ESPN TOP TEN moment followed when Fabio ran back and reached over the centerfield wall to rob Luke Levin of his fifth home run, giving Stanford the lead. This prompted a mound visit as Collera’s momentum appeared to falter. He was briefly relieved with a strikeout, and then Rintaro Sansaki, celebrating his 21st birthday, hit his 11th home run of the year over the right field fence. Miami, now trailing for the first time in this series, was down 3-1.
Fast forward to the sixth inning, when the Miami bats finally came alive to retake the lead with two outs. Alonzo, before his home state fans, recorded his first hit of the series, triggering a chain reaction of hits. Vance doubled to right-center, scoring Alonzo. Dylan, who is not our strongest fielding outfielder, made up for it with his bat, connecting for his sixth home run of the season and giving Miami the lead again at 4-3.
Miami narrowly avoided a crisis in the seventh inning when faced with bases loaded and only one out. Frank Menendez, the Canes’ third pitcher of the day, came on to relieve Jake Dorn, who pitched 1.1 innings without allowing a hit. Dorn had earlier replaced starter Alonzo, who finished with 4.2 innings pitched and three runs given up. Since returning to the bullpen following Tommy John surgery, Frank has struggled to live up to his previous reputation from Florida. While he will eventually find his form, the seventh inning nearly turned into a disaster, but it was saved due to miscommunication among the baserunners.
After an initial strikeout, back-to-back singles put runners on the corners. A stolen base moved the runner to second. Following a mound visit, with the count at 3-2, Miami chose to intentionally walk Eric Jeon, who had doubled in his previous at-bat, to load the bases. Sasaki, who had earlier hit a home run, then stepped to the plate. He hit the ball to right field, which should have scored a run to tie the game. However, the runner at third did not tag up, and the runner at second was caught halfway to third and had nowhere to go. He attempted to return to second and was doubled up—9-3-6. Miscommunications ultimately prevented a tie, preserving at least the potential for a tie score.
After an almost disastrous 7th, JD brings in Lyndon Glidewell, our go-to pitcher over the past couple of games. After cruising through the 8th, JD’s mentality is to go with our closer, who has continued to struggle to close. Rather than stick with Guidewell to finish after recording the first two outs in the 9th but losing what would have been the final out with an 0-2 count, he ends up walking him. Shockingly, JD decides on a pitching change and brings in Bilka, which has disaster written all over it. After three straight balls, he finally reaches a full count, followed by a single that puts runners on the corners. JD himself made a mound visit, which never happens unless to relieve. He sticks with Ryan and pitches to Sasaki, whom he walks. Maybe that was why JD made a mound visit to discuss walking their most dangerous hitter. With bases loaded, Teddy Tokheim, who has been hitless, grounds out 5-3. Miami thinks the game is over and the series is won, but the coach challenges the final call, arguing that West didn’t have possession of the ball, which would have tied the score. After a few minutes of suspense, the umpires return to the field and determine the out stands. He did not juggle the ball but retained possession for the out.
Offensively, once again, it was not a very productive day, except for the performance of Dylan Dubovik, Miami’s only multiple hitter, who went 2-3 with a crucial two-run homer in the 6th and an RBI single in the second. He accounted for three of Miami’s four runs. Not the greatest fielder, but he can hit when it counts. Vance Sheahan was the only other Miami hitter with an extra-base hit, a double. The team batted a poor .206 and scored all four runs with two outs.
Miami goes for the SWEEP tomorrow at 4 PM, with AJ Cisca starting.
