On a beautiful Tuesday night in Miami, the Hurricanes hopped on a short bus ride to face the Florida International University Panthers at loanDepot park. The Hurricanes owned the bright lights of the MLB-sized stadium, securing a 7-3 win over their cross-town rival.
With the bases juiced in the top of the sixth inning, sophomore third baseman Daniel Cuvet stepped into the right-handers’ batter box. With the count full, Cuvet belted a ball over the left field wall for a grand slam.
Cuvet, who started the season sluggishly, had been heating up as of late. He is hitting .298 with three home runs and 12 RBIs.
The starting pitcher for the Hurricanes was Alex Giroux. The graduate right-handed pitcher had another solid performance, retiring the side in order four out of his six innings pitched. He ran into a bit of trouble in the third inning, allowing two runners to score, and in the fifth, he allowed one runner to touch home. Giroux finished the game throwing six innings of five-hit baseball, striking out four.
FIU’s (11-3) Javier Crespo and Kareh Valentin each had two hits, combining for four of FIU’s six hits.
In the top of the second, with runners on first and second with one out, Todd Hudson hit a single to left center field to score Bobby Marsh. This started a string of hits with freshman Fabio Peralta and Michael Torres both hitting base knocks. Miami scored three runs this inning.
Miami’s relief pitching was spectacular in the back third of the game. Freshman Lazaro Collera and AJ Ciscar each threw an inning, followed by senior Jackson Cleveland to seal the deal in the ninth inning. Combined, they only allowed one hit and struck out five.
Miami (10-3) will make the ride back to its Coral Gables campus to face Villanova on Wednesday at 6 p.m.