It doesn’t matter how good a team’s pitching staff can be. A team can not win a game if they do not score runs and that was the Miami Hurricanes on Friday night.
In its first game out of the state of Florida, Miami lost 4-0 against the Duke Blue Devils in Durham, N.C.
Duke was struggling immensely coming into the game having lost two out of three to Notre Dame then dropping the midweek High Point. But Miami allowed them to wake up and bring life into Jack Coombs Field.
The Hurricanes had more errors (3) than hits (2), a recipe not made for success. Backstops Alex Sosa and Alonzo Alvarez were the only Hurricanes with hits.
Duke starter Aidan Weaver was lights out in his six innings of work. Only allowing two hits while striking out eight, leaving UM hitters guessing at the plate all night.
The Blue Devils struck first. In the bottom of the first inning senior outfielder Tyler Albright hit a leadoff home run off Friday night starter AJ Ciscar. Further damage was limited as Ciscar was able to leave two runners stranded to end the inning.
Ciscar threw five innings surrendering four hits, four runs (three earned), and struck out nine batters. On his ninth strikeout he reached 100 career punchouts.
Since 2016, Duke has a 257-55 record when scoring three or more runs in an inning, and the Blue Devils continued the trend by scoring three runs in the fourth inning.
Kaden Smith and Matthew Strand both started the inning with singles for Duke. Then Ben Petrone reached safely on a throwing error that allowed Smith to score from second base.
And with the bases loaded and two outs, Ciscar walked Albright to bring in a run. A balk from Ciscar allowed another Duke base runner to score to move the score to 4-0.
Taking matters from bad to worse, in the top of the seventh Miami right fielder Derek Willams got hit in the hand with a pitch, and came out of the game as Fabio Peralta took his place.
Williams has been one of the top hitters in the country so far this season, batting .453 alongside six homers and 24 RBI.
If he’s out for an extended period of time, it would be a brutal blow for this Hurricane lineup, adding to the already tough loss of left fielder Max Galvin to a foot injury for multiple weeks.
There were some positives for Miami, as sophomore Lazaro Collera’s 2.2 innings of work in relief for Ciscar marked his best effort of the season. He only gave up two hits while striking out three in his nine batters faced. Collera’s fastball was electric, hitting the mid-90s.
In addition, Miami freshman LJ Drummond got his first taste of collegiate action. Picking up one out via the strikeout in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The Hurricanes will look to turn the tide on Saturday as they get set for game two against Duke at Jack Coombs Field. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.