The experience of the 2025 Miami Hurricanes baseball team has been a rollercoaster ride of the ages. Falling to .500 by mid-March before nearly going undefeated during April before crashing back down to Earth by losing six of their last seven, this ’Canes team has been anything but consistent. And on a pristine Tuesday morning at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, No. 9-seeded Miami looked to send No. 16-seeded California back on a long flight home to Berkeley in the first round of the ACC Tournament, but a disastrous fourth inning led to a 12-2 Cal win via mercy rule in the eighth.
Griffin Hugus got the nod for the 9 a.m. start. Hugus, who had a 4.22 ERA and pitched on four days’ rest, did not have his best stuff, struggling with command all morning
With a runner on second and two outs, the Golden Bears catcher Alex Birge stepped to the dish. On a 2-2 pitch, Birge belted a two-run shot over the right field wall, and Cal never looked back after that.
The top of the fourth is where it got ugly for the Hurricanes. After walking two consecutive batters to start the frame, Hugus was pulled for graduate right-hander Carson Fischer. Two hits and a fielding error later, Fischer was pulled for Will Smith with still no outs and the score 4-0.
A two-RBI double from PJ Moutzouridis and a walk to Dominic Smaldinio ended Smith’s short appearance. Cal’s Moutzouridis had a team-high three hits. Luckily, Miami’s Alex Giroux was able to stop the bleeding and give up no earned runs. After four, Cal already led 9-0.
Credit goes to the Golden Bears starting pitcher Oliver de la Torre who threw six innings of two-hit baseball while striking out seven.
He single handedly shut down the Hurricanes offense who looked no match for his wipe-out changeup and located fastballs.
Leading the stagnant five-hit Miami Hurricanes offense was none other than sophomore Daniel Cuvet. The Golden Spikes Semifinalist had two hits, including a single in the seventh inning. Cuvet later scored in that inning thanks to a 393-foot home run from Tanner Smith, but scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh proved not to be enough as Cal tacked on two runs in the eighth via another Birge two-run homer, led 12-2 and was on the verge of beating Miami via the run rule.
Despite a base hit from freshman Michael Torres, the Hurricanes could not score a run, and after eight innings Miami’s time in the ACC tournament was short-lived.
The first-round loss certainly didn’t help Miami’s chances of making it to a Regional. For now, the Hurricanes (31-24, 15-14 ACC)will head back to Coral Gables and play the waiting game to see if they receive a bid for the NCAA tournament. If not, the next time you’ll see Miami take the field will be in a year’s time with the 2026 season.