The Miami Hurricanes (30-11, 10-8 ACC) swept the season series against the FAU Owls (19-21, 6-9 AAC), winning 5-4 behind late-game heroics from Jake Ogden.
The victory showed Miami’s ability to survive a midweek scare. After losing an early 3-0 lead, the Hurricanes used five strong innings from their bullpen to keep their momentum rolling before returning to ACC play this weekend.
Junior righty TJ Coats was on the bump for the Canes, making his fourth start and 14th appearance of the year with a 3.38 ERA over 32 innings.
Coats pitched four innings, surrendering three earned runs, four hits, and three walks while recording one strikeout.
Jake Dorn earned the win, pitching a scoreless eighth inning and preserving his perfect record at 5-0.
For the Owls, manager John McCormack decided to rely on the bullpen for Wednesday’s game.
He called on freshman righty Brody Juntunen to be the first of six Owl pitchers to take the mound.
Juntunen lasted only 1.1 innings, allowing three earned runs while facing nine batters. Miami’s electric first inning helped chase him early.
Ogden started the game with a four-pitch walk and was able to advance to third base through a steal and a Max Galvin groundout.
Derek Williams opened the scoring with a deep fly ball that brought in Ogden.
The Hurricanes kept applying pressure as Brylan West drilled a two-out double down the left-field line, bringing in Alex Sosa, who had drawn a walk, to extend the Miami lead to 2-0.
Then, in the top of the second, freshman Gabriel Milano launched a fastball down the middle over the right field wall for his third home run in only 12 at-bats this year.
The Owls could not get anything going through three innings as Coats cruised early. His only trouble came with two outs and the bases loaded in the third, but he worked out of the jam.
His scoreless start ended when the Owls were once again able to get the bases loaded in the fourth. After a bases-loaded walk brought in a run, an errant throw from Ogden brought in two more, tying the game at three apiece.
The Canes turned to freshman lefty Sebastian Santos-Olsen in relief for the fifth inning. He ran into trouble early, allowing a double to second baseman John Martinez, who scored on a single to give the Owls a 4-3 lead.
J.D. Arteaga had seen enough, turning to Packy Bradley-Cooney to escape the fifth with one man on. The move worked, as Bradley-Cooney struck out the eight and nine-hole hitters to prevent any further damage.
Both South Florida bullpens settled in during the sixth and seventh innings.
In the top of the eighth, back-to-back singles from Williams and Sosa saw the Canes get runners on the corners with no outs. West fell behind in the count but brought in Williams on a double play to tie the game at 4-4.
Once again in the ninth, Miami put runners on the corners with no outs due to a Vance Sheahan walk and a Milano single. Arteaga called for a bunt, and Ogden executed it perfectly, placing it shallow in front of the mound to bring in Sheahan and give Miami a one-run lead.
Miami called on senior righty Lyndon Glidewell to close the game, and he slammed the door on the Owls with a one-two-three ninth.
The win was Miami’s 10th midweek victory out of 11 this season, improving its record to 30-11 (10-8 ACC). The Canes’ bullpen performed superbly, allowing one run and no earned runs over five innings.
The Canes return home this Friday, April 24, to face the Cal Golden Bears in a three-game ACC homestand.
The game can be seen on ACCNX and heard on WVUM 90.5 FM, with Miami looking to win its sixth consecutive weekend series.