Saturday afternoon marked the final time the ’Canes baseball team would play at home this year and the final regular season game for the squad. They matched up against Notre Dame in a rubber match that would prove key for standings heading into the ACC tournament.
And with all that pressure on this game Miami simply fell flat, falling 12-2 to Notre Dame.
Despite the final score looking bleak, this was a game that Miami should’ve been much closer in. Mix a combination of poorly timed walks, poor pitching with runners on, an inability to hit with runners in scoring position, and the run disparity becomes clear despite being relatively close in hits between the two sides.
It was the Fighting Irish who got on the board first with a solid display of fundamental baseball. A hit-by-pitch to the leadoff batter DM Jefferson proved costly for DeRias as he came around to score on an RBI single before a second run was scored via a first-and-third trick play to put Notre Dame up 2-0.
Miami began to chip away immediately in the bottom of the inning as Jake Ogden and Daniel Cuvet ripped a pair of singles to left field to plate their first run of the day, but couldn’t tie it up despite having runners on second and third to end the inning.
Both starting pitchers settled into a groove as DeRias and Jackson Dennies shut their opposing offenses down through the fourth inning.
But once again it was Ogden who sparked some offense for the Hurricanes, lining another single into left field before being driven home by a Max Galvin RBI double to tie the game at 2-2.
However this Miami momentum was short lived as Notre Dame immediately responded by retaking the lead in the sixth as Carson Tinney launched a homer off DeRias to deep left field. The Fighting Irish kept the pressure up as DeRias was taken out of the game, launching another homer to left off reliever Will Smith later in the inning to make the score 5-2.
Things didn’t get better for Miami as Notre Dame tacked on two more via RBI singles in the seventh and eighth inning, before a sac fly extended the Fighting Irish lead 8-2.
And as all hope seemed to be lost, Notre Dame made sure those hopes were crushed as Tinney demolished his second homer of the game to make it a 11-2 ballgame, before they tacked on more in the ninth making it a 12-2 affair.
The ’Canes simply couldn’t find a way to respond in what has become a clear pattern throughout the regular season. If they don’t take the lead early, this squad struggles to get it back and routinely falls flat.
Both teams will turn their attention to the ACC tournament taking place in Durham next week as both teams will play on Tuesday with Miami (31-23, 15-14 ACC) as a 9-seed and Notre Dame (32-20, 14-16 ACC) as a 11-seed.