After a back-and-forth game with both offenses firing on all cylinders, a four-run 12th inning by Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) fittingly capped off a rough night for Miami on the mound. The four-hour and fifteen-minute thriller saw the Eagles come out on top by a score of 12-10 over the Hurricanes on Wednesday night at Mark Light Field.
Despite the loss, UM did provide FGCU with a scare in the bottom half of the 12th. The ’Canes logged two walks, two hits and two runs and even threatened to steal the game as it had multiple at-bats with the winning run at the plate. In a pinch-hit at-bat, freshman Jake Kulikowski flew out to right field to end the game, leaving the bases loaded down two runs.
“We fought to the end,” sophomore first baseman Jason Torres said. “That was maybe the only good part about it.”
While the hitting for the ’Canes was up to par, the pitching had an abysmal performance on the mound. As a pitching staff, UM gave up 11 earned runs, 18 hits, four walks and six hit batters.
The problems began with starter Ben Chestnutt. Out of the gates, it was apparent Chestnutt did not have his best stuff, and by the third batter of the game, the score was already 2-0. Former Hurricane Ian Farrow laced a single into left field, followed immediately by a Robert Moya homer to kickstart the Eagles’ offense.
Chestnutt appeared to be back on track with scoreless second and third innings, but that was not the case. After giving up a hit-by-pitch and a single to begin the fourth, Eagles designated hitter Jacob Lojewski singled between short and third, driving in two more.
The next big disaster inning did not occur until later in the eighth. In this inning, Brandon Olivera gave up three earned runs, two hits and a hit batter without recording an out, quickly erasing the two-run lead UM had at the time.
“We had some opportunities to win the game earlier,” head coach J.D. Arteaga said. “One of the cardinal sins in baseball, especially pitching, is two-out walks and it came back to bite us and we just can’t do those things.
To cap off the poor night on the mound was the brutal 12th inning. It was an inning that was not that bad pitching-wise but was mainly a problem due to poor defense.
One run would have come across to score regardless, but with two outs, FGCU hit a ball down the third base line that was fielded cleanly by freshman Daniel Cuvet. Cuvet airmailed the throw that likely would have beat the runner to the bag and ended the inning with only one run across. Instead, another run scored on that throwing error and was immediately followed by a two-RBI single.
Even with all the struggles on defense, the Hurricanes’ offense remained calm and stayed aggressive, putting runs on the board when it needed to. Right after Olivera’s disastrous eighth inning, Torres continued his hot start to the season and deposited a solo shot just over the 330-foot sign in the right-field corner to tie the game down the stretch at 8-8.
Torres and Cuvet had outstanding nights at the plate, each getting three hits, keeping both of their averages above .500 on the young season. Junior Dorian Gonzalez Jr. also had a strong night offensively, as he logged two hits of his own.
Miami will look to get back on track with its first big test of the season coming against No. 4 Florida this weekend. The first game is a green-out, with the first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday night at Mark Light Field.