45 minutes after a thrilling game one victory, Miami looked to win two in a row in cold, rainy Pittsburgh on Friday evening.
The Hurricanes’ effort was not enough, losing 7-2. This evened up the series at one apiece.
Due to two out of the three games of the series being played on Friday and rain expected in the Pittsburgh area all weekend, Miami head coach J.D. Arteaga thrust AJ Ciscar into the starter role. This was the freshman’s second career start.
In five innings pitched, Ciscar gave up two hits and four runs – three of them which were earned – and he struck out seven batters. He threw two three-up, three-down innings in the first and third.
After an offensive explosion that was propelled by Tanner Smith’s grand slam in game one, Miami was only able to plate two runs in the game despite having eight hits.
The Hurricanes scored both of their runs in the eighth inning. After freshman catcher Nolan Johnson hit a base knock as a pinch-hitter for fellow freshman Ethan Puig, senior Gaby Gutierrez stepped into the batter’s box. Gutierrez, in limited playing time this season, cranked a two-run home run over the center field wall.
In many cases two runs is not enough to win a ball game, and it was evident on Friday night. The Panthers scored five of their seven runs in the sixth inning.
After Ciscar allowed two consecutive base runners on with no outs, he was pulled for Michael Fernandez. The freshman allowed two straight sacrifices – a bunt and a flyout – resulting in one run to score. Arteaga used more youth in this game, as he took the ball from Fernandez and gave it to freshman Lazaro Collera.
The pitching change backfired. Collera gave up two runs on two hits and walked two batters and was not able to record the final out of the inning. Pittsburgh outfielder AJ Nessler had one of the two hits and an RBI, remaining hot after a two-hit performance in game one. Jackson Cleveland came into the game for the Hurricanes to record the last out via a strikeout.
Pitt (17-13, 4-7 ACC) starting pitcher Ryan Reed shut down Miami’s offense. The junior southpaw threw seven innings, only allowing three hits and striking out five.
After weather delays and postponements, the rubber match of the three-game set is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. Miami (16-16, 3-8 ACC) looks to win its first series in over a month.