The Miami Hurricanes took down the FAU Owls in a high-scoring affair Tuesday night, winning 10 – 6.
Jake Dorn got the start on the mound for the Canes, one of seven pitchers sent out by Miami throughout the game, none throwing for more than two innings. TJ Coats would be the lucky win recipient after his two innings pitched across the fourth and fifth innings.
Alonzo Alvarez delivered on the offensive end with two hits and two RBIs, along with drawing two walks. As a team, the Hurricanes drew seven walks on the night.
The Owls were shut down in the first inning thanks to strong defense by the Hurricanes, and the Canes continued the momentum on offense.
Jake Ogden worked a walk and then advanced to second on a groundout, bringing up Alex Sosa. Sosa hit a routine grounder to second, but with a lucky Hurricane bounce, it skeetered off the defender’s glove and over his head, bringing home Ogden to open up the scoring with an error.
Some more strong defense kept the Owls down in the second inning, and then the floodgates opened up for Miami.
Ryan Buckler jumped on the mound to replace FAU starter Dalton Robinson after just one inning, but things didn’t go well for him either.
Vance Sheahan started the inning by working a walk, then stealing second and third on back to back pitches. He was quickly brought home by a Dylan Dubovik single, which was followed by a Jake Ogden deep sacrifice fly to score Dubovik.
Next up was Alex Sosa, who scored two with a hard hit double ripped to right field, making the score 5-0.
To start the third, Tate DeRias replaced Jake Dorn on the mound, and the Owls took advantage.
With the bases loaded, Michael Perazza fired a hard single to left field that brought in a run. Left fielder Dubovik failed to cleanly collect the ball, and the error allowed another run in.
Luckily, the Canes were able to get out of the inning soon after thanks to a heads up play by Ogden, who caught a line drive and flipped it over to second for a double play
Another pitching change to start the third saw Cameron Horner come in to pitch for the Owls. After three straight walks Horner was taken out for Brayden Gilsom who limited the damage, allowing just one run on a Dubovik RBI ground out.
The fourth inning saw the Owls battle back once again. First baseman Patrick Ward seized a hold of a pitch inside, blasting it to deep left center. The ball disappeared over the fence, bringing the score to 6-4 putting FAU right back into the game.
The Canes quickly answered back with some runs of their own. They loaded the bases with two singles and a walk, leading to a Cuvet score via a wild pitch. Alvarez proceeded to lift a ball just over the shortstop’s head for a two RBI single, giving the Hurricanes a bigger cushion.
Through the next few innings, strong defense from both sides kept both teams off the board until the bottom of the sixth inning.
Derek Williams hit his ninth double of the season to tie himself for fifth in the ACC, and he proceeded to score thanks to a Sheahan RBI double.
However, some weak defense by the Hurricanes kept FAU in the game, as an Ogden error led to an easy run for the Owls. The Hurricane lead was cut to four after a wild pitch.
With some good defense in the seventh, the Owls found themselves in a good position to inch even closer.
With two runners on the Owls opted for a double steal, but the lead runner was gunned down by the catcher Alvarez, halting their momentum and preventing them from getting any more runs on the board.
Miami closed the game out with an emphatic ending, as center fielder Fabio Peralta made a catch at full sprint and then shot a runner down back at first to end the game with a double play. Closer Ryan Bilka earned the save on the night with 1.1 innings pitched and one strikeout.
Miami will travel to Clemson, S.C., to face the Tigers for a three-game set. The series will begin Friday, with first pitch set for 7 p.m.
