The “battle for the 305” between UM and FIU had its final chapter of the year Wednesday night at the Light, as the Hurricanes ensured the book had a pleasant ending as they took the final game 10-6.
Righthander Reese Lumpkin once again got the midweek start for the ’Canes, going six innings with seven strikeouts while being credited with the win.
After losing their last midweek matchup to FIU due to a poor offensive showing, UM looked to jump on the Panthers early, and jump on them they did. The ’Canes racked up 13 hits on the night, with three of them being homers. Those homers came from Daniel Cuvet, Jake Ogden and Max Galvin as they led the way for the Hurricanes with eight combined hits. Focusing solely on Cuvet, he exploded for five RBI’s on four hits, simply the hottest hitter in the nation.
It was an electric game right from the start as Ogden and Galvin hit back-to-back homers to leadoff the game for the ’Canes to give Miami a 2-0 lead.
And while Lumpkin was on cruise control during his first three scoreless innings, the Hurricanes tacked on a third run via a Bobby Marsh RBI triple to center field.
But as evident from the last three games of the series, FIU doesn’t go down without a fight. The Panthers began to claw back in the fourth inning as they plated two runs on a fielders choice and a single.
Miami answered back immediately in the bottom of the inning with three runs of their own with some neat hitting. Cuvet brought his first two runs in of the night with a single to left before Dorian Gonzalez Jr. brought him in with a single of his own. Gonzalez Jr. would plate another run in the bottom of the sixth later in the game.
With a reinsured lead, Lumpkin and Miami went into coasting again through the next two innings before being replaced by Alex Giroux for the seventh. Giroux was rudely welcomed into the game as FIU’s Cole Cleveland launched a homer to right to begin his outing. Cleveland shined bright for the Panthers as he went 4-4 on the night. Things only got worse for Giroux as an error followed before a single and a double plated two more runs before head coach J.D Arteaga brought in Carson Fischer to get out of the inning.
But FIU kept their momentum going in the eighth as they plated another run, making it a one-run ball game at 6-7. And as if there was ever any doubt as to who came to the ’Canes rescue, Cuvet put an end to that momentum with a three-run blast in the bottom of the inning to put Miami up 10-6 going into the ninth before Brian Walters shut the door with his eighth save of the year.
Miami, now 30-18 and 14-9 in the ACC, hope to keep their hot streak going as they travel this weekend to take on UVA in their penultimate series to end the year.