On Sunday afternoon, the Canes offense loomed large over the Creighton Blue Jays in the finale of their three-game series.
Three-straight homers off the bats of Alex Sosa, Derek Williams, and Brylan West sent Mark Light Field into a frenzy —- part of a much-needed 15-5 rout and series sweep.
Following a two-strikeout first for Miami starter Lazaro Collera, the Hurricanes bats struck immediately in the first.
Williams hammered a ball to the right field gap to open the scoring with a one-run single. With men on first and third, first baseman West drove a ball to the warning track for a sac-fly, giving the Canes an early 2-0 lead.
After another shutdown inning from Collera, the Canes would bring shortstop Vance Sheahan around in on a passed ball after his single, adding one additional run to their tally.
Collera, making his first start since February against Lafayette, suffered his first setback of the afternoon in the third.
The right-hander would give up a two-run shot to Creighton shortstop Ben North, shrinking the Canes lead to one.
Answering immediately in the bottom half of the inning, however, was the trio of homers from Sosa, Williams and West.
West’s 410 foot homer served as the nail in the coffin for the Bluejays, as the Canes would hold a lead of at least four the remainder of the game.
Second baseman Jake Ogden joined the homer party with a two run shot to left field in the fourth, followed up by another RBI from Williams.
After getting into some trouble in the fifth, Collera was pulled for reliever TJ Coats.
Through 4.1 innings, Collera tallied six strikeouts with only one walk. The sophomore Miami native has made a great leap from his freshman season, doubling his strikeouts relative to the year prior and halving his ERA.
Collera looks to be a formidable weapon in the Hurricanes’ rotation for the remainder of the season, and beyond.
Creighton jumped on Coats, with two RBI doubles bringing in both of Collera’s runners and one of his own for good measure. But the Nebraska transfer worked his way out of the inning with two strikeouts.
The Blue Jays issued their third pitching change of the day, but he met the same fate as the prior two.
Left fielder Dylan Dubovik was driven in by a flyout from Vance Sheahan after a wild throw-in, before Sheahan was at the center of the action again in the sixth, tallying an RBI single.
Miami’s offense had a rare blip in the seventh, recording their first scoreless inning of the afternoon.
The Canes quickly made up for it in the eighth, racking up five consecutive walks leading to two scored runs and, ultimately, a 10-run mercy rule giving the Hurricanes their first sweep since February.
With 13 RBIs on twelve hits, the Canes’ ability at the plate showcased immensely in this game and as a whole with 35 runs over the three-game series.
Miami plays next against FAU at home on Tuesday, Mar. 24, at 6:00 p.m.