The bats were certainly hot for Hurricanes Baseball on Sunday afternoon at Mark Light Field, as it pulled off an 8-6 win over the Duke Blue Devils. After having a split series from Friday and Saturday’s games, Miami came to the field with one thing in mind: winning.
The ’Canes started off slightly rocky on the defensive side, giving up a single from Duke lefty AJ Gracia. Duke (24-14, 9-9 ACC) then added fuel to the fire with a home run to right center from junior Tyler Albright, giving him 2 RBIs and making the first dent in the score.
After some offensive struggles for Miami (20-17, 6-9 ACC), junior Jake Ogden found a gap in the defense and singled out to center field. Ogden’s time on base was short, though, as he got caught attempting to steal third on Fabio Peralta’s failed bunt for the second out of the inning.
All hope seemed to be lost until third baseman Daniel Cuvet stepped up to the plate and homered with a bomb to left center that put the ’Canes on the scoreboard.
With the fans energized from the fourth inning, Duke quickly answered Miami with a single and triple that added two runs to their score, giving the Hurricanes a challenge that would be quickly answered in the bottom of the fifth.
Miami put on a fiery fifth inning on the offensive end of the field, fueled by Dorian Gonzalez Jr.’s single and continued by Evan Taveras’ homer, Tanner Smith’s single and Cuvet’s double, as well as two walks. The Hurricanes took a 6-4 lead that changed the trajectory of the game.
While Duke tied the score 6-6 in the top of the sixth inning with a two-run homer from Jake Berger, UM fired back with a home run in the sixth and another in the eighth from Gonzalez to put it back in the lead.
Much of Miami’s success came from the pitching mound, as freshman Tate DeRias pitched more than four innings and only gave up four earned runs. Following DeRias’ success, Carson Fischer and Will Smith took the mound before closer Brian Walters finished off the game with three easy outs. Smith also had a victory of his own, as he threw his 100th career strikeout.
The ’Canes look to continue their win streak as they face FAU on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at home.