The bats of the Miami Hurricanes stayed hot on a humid Saturday night at Mark Light Field, as the Canes won their fourth-straight game, defeating the Virginia Tech Hokies 8-6.
Following a 19-1 run rule slugfest the night prior, Miami was looking to break the game open for the second night in a row against the Hokies. Up 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth with a runner on third base, Daniel Cuvet stepped up to the plate.
The junior third baseman took VT’s Brett Renfrow’s offspeed pitch deep into the night for a 385-foot two-run home run in left-center field to give the Canes a 6-1 lead.
Cuvet’s 53rd career home run surpassed Yonder Alonso for third-most home runs by a Miami Hurricane. He trails only Pat Burrel and Phil Lane for the all-time home run lead.
Prior to Cuvet’s long ball, second baseman Jake Ogden crushed Renfrow’s breaking ball off the wall in right-center field, plating two runs as the senior collected his second triple to give Miami a three-run advantage. Ogden finished the night going 4-for-5 with three extra-base hits and three RBIs.
Despite the six-run hole, the Hokies fought in the ninth. Following back-to-back walks surrendered by Frank Menendez, Nick Locurto lined an RBI single to center field down to his last out.
Ryan Bilka came in for Menendez and on the first batter he saw, gave up a 420-foot three-run home run to Ethan Ball, who sent his pitch off the parking garage in right field.
Bilka bounced back, striking out Sam Grube and end the late surge from the Hokies.
After putting up 19 runs on Friday, the UM bats continued to stay hot.
Entering Saturday’s game, UM’s bats have put up six or more runs in 12-straight games. The Canes that streak, scoring eight runs on 12 hits. Miami’s top of the order — Ogden, Cuvet and Alex Sosa — went 7-for-14 and tallied six RBIs.
After missing the last 26 games due to an ankle injury, left fielder Max Galvin made his return to the Hurricanes lineup. In his second at-bat, the redshirt senior laced a single up the middle for his first hit 46 days.
Lazaro Collera toed the slab for the Hurricanes and followed up his six scoreless against Clemson with another strong performance against VT.
Collera gave up just one run on five hits, striking out five and allowing one walk in six innings of work. Over his last three games starting, the Miami native has a 3.22 ERA.
The only trouble Collera had came in the second inning, when Pete Daniel and Sam Gates hit back-to-back doubles to put the Hokies on the board first.
With tonight’s win, the Hurricanes claim back-to-back ACC series victories for the first time this year. After a rough start to conference play with series losses to Boston College and Duke, UM might be back to the form fans expected when the season started.
The Hurricanes will look to sweep the Hokies for the first time since March 17-18, 2023 on Easter Sunday. First pitch at Mark Light Field is set for 1 p.m.
