Honoring its seniors at Mark Light Field, the Miami Hurricanes’ offense came alive Friday night, routing the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 15-1 in seven innings.
After scoring just two runs in a 3-2 defeat on Thursday, the Hurricanes exploded out of the gate Friday. Miami plated four runs in the first inning and added nine more in the second, sending 25 batters to the plate in the first two frames and scoring 13 of its 15 runs.
Notre Dame (31-20, 13-16 ACC) couldn’t get anything going on either side of the ball. On the mound, the Fighting Irish struggled with control, walking nine batters and hitting three.
Starter Rory Fox was pulled after just one inning. The sophomore right-hander, who entered with a 3.03 ERA and had gone at least three innings in every start this season, threw 39 pitches to 10 batters.
With the bases loaded in the second, Michael Torres lined a ball to shortstop Estevan Moreno, who overthrew second base, allowing the ball to sail into right field. All three runners scored on the error, with Torres advancing to third. It was one of three costly defensive miscues by the Fighting Irish.
Miami freshman AJ Ciscar shined in his last regular-season start. The right-hander from Weston, Florida, tossed seven innings of one-run ball, striking out seven and allowing just three hits. He ends the regular season with a 2.76 ERA as a starting pitcher.
Senior second baseman Dorian Gonzalez Jr. made the most of one of his final home games in front of family and friends. In the second inning, he launched a three-run homer over the center-field wall to extend the Hurricanes’ lead to seven.
Gonzalez finished his senior night going 3-for-4, with five RBIs, including his eighth home run of the season.
A Miami native who grew up just minutes from Mark Light Field, Gonzalez followed in the footsteps of his father, Dorian Sr., who played for the Hurricanes from 1994 to 1996 and made it to the College World Series all three years.
“I grew up coming to games here and as like, this was my life,” Gonzalez said in March. “My clothes were green and orange. Once Miami reached out, I knew that’s where I wanted to go.”
The younger Gonzalez, who verbally committed to Miami at 16, has played in 206 career games with a .267 batting average and 21 home runs. With Miami (31-22, 15-13 ACC) in position to return to Omaha for the first time since 2016, he has a chance to become the second member of his family to play in the College World Series.
Following the blowout win, the Hurricanes now turn their attention to the regular-season finale Saturday afternoon against Notre Dame. Freshman Tate DeRias is expected to take the mound against right-hander Jackson Dennies. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.