On a Saturday night where the Miami Hurricanes 1985 National Championship team was honored, the 2025 Hurricanes followed in their underdog footsteps with a 10-3 statement win over No.13 NC State to clinch the series.
Daniel Cuvet continued his tear over the last few weeks with a pair of doubles, but it was Dorian Gonzalez Jr. who led the way for the ’Canes with three hits and four RBI’s. And while those two were the stars, the entire team hit well on Saturday night, combining for 15 hits.
The pitching side wasn’t too bad either as freshman right-hander AJ Ciscar delivered six and two-third innings of one-run baseball, completely shutting down the NC State offense with precise pitches painted on the corner all night.
Ciscar followed the blueprint of Friday Starter Griffin Hugus by setting the tone with a shutdown first inning. And the offense followed their blueprint from Friday night’s game by rewarding their starter with a lead heading into the second. A pair of two-out hits from Cuvet and Gonzalez Jr. combined for the first run of the day to put Miami up 1-0.
In the third inning, things picked up again as NC State tied it up after a pair of hits was followed by a throwing error from Cuvet. But rather than keep his head down, Cuvet stayed on his hot-streak by driving in Max Galvin with an RBI single before being brought home by another Gonzalez single.
The ’Canes slammed their foot on the gas in the fourth, exploding for five runs in the inning. A pair of singles by Fabio Peralta and Renzo Gonzalez kicked things off before the bases were loaded by a Jake Ogden walk. Peralta scored on a misplayed grounder in the infield before a walk by Cuvet and another hit by Gonzalez Jr. brought in three more. The final run of the inning was tacked on via a misplayed fly ball between shortstop and left field.
Ciscar continued his dominance until the seventh where he was replaced by left-handed Freshman Mikey Fernandez to escape the jam with two outs. Fernandez was replaced by Will Smith who threw a scoreless eighth as Miami tacked on two more in the bottom of the inning before Rob Evans closed out the game with a two-run ninth.
While Miami (29-18, 14-9 ACC) played well, NC State (30-15, 15-8 ACC) did not do themselves any favors with poor decision making and errors that plagued them all night. But, hot teams get the benefit of luck on their side, and Miami is the hottest team in the country right now.
With the win Saturday night the Hurricanes clinched their fifth-straight ACC series win, a streak that includes multiple ranked teams as they continue to produce statement wins for the rest of the country to take notice.
Miami will look to sweep NC State tomorrow in the getaway game which will begin at 12:00 p.m. at the Light.