Coming off two heartbreaking losses against Florida, the Miami Hurricanes wanted nothing more than a simple, smooth midweek win over the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats.
And while the Canes would prevail 5-2, the win was anything but simple — rather a boxing match in which Miami would land the final punch with a three run seventh inning.
An ever-rotating door of arms took the mound for Miami (11-2) and Bethune (9-4) Wednesday night as 15 pitchers featured on the slab, seven for BCU and eight for Miami.
Despite clearly putting pressure on the B-CU pitching staff, the Hurricanes struggled to turn those opportunities into runs, leaving six runners in scoring position and 11 on base in total.
Thankfully, Derek Williams led the Canes on offense with a 2-run double that gave Miami the lead in the seventh. Brylan West and Daniel Cuvet both tallied one RBI each as well. West notched two hits and a walk, continuing his great start to the year at a .457 AVG.
With the rain-out against UF on Sunday, typical weekend starter Tate DeRias opened the game for the Hurricanes.
DeRias, who in all likelihood will remain the Sunday starter, only pitched the opening two innings allowing one hit while racking up three strikeouts.
Things stayed quiet in the first inning as defense held strong for both squads. However, to start the second, the Wildcats made their first of many pitching changes, and the Canes took advantage.
A Brylan West single to the left side followed by an Alvarez single to the right gave way for a Fabio Peralta sac fly to left center, opening the scoring.
Sebastian Santos Olson, the usual midweek starter for Miami, took the mound to start the third for Miami where Jake Ogden turned a solo double play to get the Canes out of the inning unscathed.
Strong defense characterized the next few innings for both teams, as no more runs were scored through the fourth inning
After two innings of work, Miami sat down Santos-Olson for TJ Coats.
To start the fifth inning, B-CU catcher Jose Fernandez sent a single up the middle to put himself on first. Soon after, center fielder Sergio Rivera sent a hard line drive to left field. What should have been a routine play for Miami left fielder Fabio Peralta turned into a critical error as the ball scooted right under his glove, bringing in a run for B-CU.
Jack Durso came in to replace Coats on the mound, and quickly got the Hurricanes out of the inning, but the Wildcats had tied it up.
However, Miami immediately answered back with a fortunate run of their own.
Julian Carrasquilla entered the game for the Wildcats, but quickly exited after back-to-back walks to begin the inning.
Sidearmer Anthony Anselmo was immediately tested upon relief, fielding a sac bunt and nailing the runner at third base.
The Wildcats caught Miami second baseman Jake Ogden in a pickle between second and third, but as he was scampering between bases, the ball was tossed right by him into Bethune Cookman’s dugout, advancing 2 runners into scoring position. With Cuvet up, he handled business, popping a ball up into center field and scoring Ogden on a shallow sacrifice fly.
And just like Miami answered, B-CU struck back. A HBP followed by a single over a jumping West put two men on. Right fielder Michael Rodriguez continued the momentum as he blooped a ball into left field to score one and tie the game once more.
Another Miami pitching change saw Lyndon Glidewell replace Jack Durso to start the bottom half of the inning.
Miami finally got the bats going in the seventh. It all started with Cuvet who ripped a ball by the third baseman for a hard hit double. After Cuvet advanced to third on a wild pitch, the Wildcats brought in their sixth pitcher of the night, Bryan Rincones.
Williams immediately jumped on Rincones, bringing in two runs on a triple to deep right field. West followed it up by bringing in Williams with a deep sac fly to center field, giving Miami a three run lead.
With that, there was no more action on offense for either team, as Ryan Bilka earned the save for Miami and the game ended 5-2 in favor of the Canes.
The Hurricanes return to action Friday at 7 p.m. to open ACC play against the Boston College Eagles.
Coverage will take place on ACCNX.