After dropping their last four games the Miami Hurricanes baseball team was desperate to get back into the win column in their final game against the No. 21 North Carolina Tar Heels on Sunday. Their wish came true as the Miami batters came through with 12 hits to give the ’Canes a 4-2 victory.

In terms of runs, not much was going for the Hurricanes in the first few innings. UM went scoreless throughout the first five innings, but it was not due to a lack of chances as in that time frame, they tallied six hits, including two singles by freshman Fabio Peralta and a double by freshman Evan Taveras, and left six runners on base. 

Even though runs were not coming in for Miami, North Carolina did not have much better luck. In his first career start on the mound, freshman AJ Ciscar handled business like it was any other day. UNC got out to a 1-0 lead in the form of an unearned run, but Ciscar kept their lead from growing during the rest of his four inning outing. In total, in four innings of work, Ciscar only gave up two hits, two walks and no earned runs along with notching two strikeouts. 

Runs finally started to appear for the ’Canes in the sixth inning with senior outfielder Derek Williams coming to score an unearned run on a passed ball to tie the ballgame up at 1-1. However, the score would remain tied until the ninth and final inning. 

Some ninth inning magic started for the Hurricanes when freshman speedster Michael Torres reached base in the form of a walk. The next three batters after Torres all got singles with Peralta and junior Jake Ogden’s singles to make the bases loaded for sophomore slugger Daniel Cuvet’s single that brought the score to 4-1. Two of the runs were credited to Cuvet as RBIs, but one was unearned due to an error.

The Tar Heels tried to make some late inning magic of their own with a run off a triple by senior Jackson Van De Brake to cut the ’Canes lead to 4-2. However, the outcome would not be changed as Miami grad student Alex Giroux finished the Tar Heels to grab the win for both himself and the Hurricanes.

With the late inning victory, Miami moves to 15-14 (ACC 2-7) on the season, managing to stay above a .500 win percentage before they head back down to Coral Gables for their next matchup against the FIU Panthers (19-10) on Wednesday, April 2 at 6 p.m.

Coming off three straight losses, the Miami Hurricanes baseball team (14-14, 1-7 ACC) looked to end this losing streak heading into the second game of a three-game series against the No. 21 North Carolina Tar Heels (21-6, 6-5 ACC). Miami looked to recover offensively after posting zero points in the first game. Unfortunately, the Hurricanes could not do so, falling 4-2 at Boshamer Stadium and extending their losing streak to four games. 

The difference in the game came in the fourth inning, where North Carolina scored all four of their runs with two outs, thanks to a costly fielding error by senior infielder Dorian Gonzalez. 

Tar Heels pitcher Jason DeCaro (4-2) earned the win after starting the game by striking out six and allowing two earned runs on three hits over 5.1 innings. Ryan Lynch then came in on relief and threw 3.2 scoreless innings, ensuring his first save of the season. 

On the mound for the ‘Canes was redshirt junior Brian Walters (2-2), who took the loss after allowing four unearned runs on nine hits in just 3.2 innings of work. 

Despite a worthy effort from the Miami bullpen, where freshmen Michael Fernandez and Tate DeRias combined to keep the Tar Heels hitless over the final 4.1 innings, the damage done in the fourth inning was too much for the Hurricanes. 

Offensively for the ‘Canes, senior Derrick Williams launched a solo home run in the sixth inning, while freshman Michael Torres reached base three times and scored a run, and freshman Fabio Peralta contributed an RBI. 

Overall, Miami was limited to just four total hits on the day and was unable to generate much offense against the North Carolina pitching staff.

The series finale against North Carolina is set to begin Sunday at noon, with the game being broadcast on ACCNX.

After consecutive poor performances from sophomore Nick Robert as the Friday starter, Miami head Coach J.D. Arteaga decided to change some things up. Junior Griffin Hugus, the usual Saturday starter, took the ball in game one of the three-game series at the University of North Carolina. Despite his great outing, Miami lost 2-0. 

Griffin Hugus starting on a Friday night wasn’t the only change for the Miami Hurricanes. Sophomore Daniel Cuvet made his first appearance at first base, and junior Jake Ogden at third base. These defensive changes paid off, as there was only one error, compared to the whopping five errors this past Wednesday against Stetson.

As mentioned, the star of the game goes to Hugus. Pitching eight innings, giving up three hits and two runs while striking out four. He ended the night on 97 pitches. Seven of his eight innings pitched were three up and three down.  

The Hurricanes had double the hits as the Tar Heels but could not plate a run. In the top of third with Ogden on first, freshman Fabio Peralta hit a double to left center with two outs when Miami assistant coach Chris Dominguez decided to send Ogden home. Ogden would be out by a step or two, resulting in the inning to the end. At that point, the score was tied at zero, and Daniel Cuvet would have come up with two runners in scoring position. 

In the fourth, Cuvet hit a single but got picked off at first base. Sloppy baserunning was a factor in Miami’s loss. 

Another factor happened to be the superb pitching performance by UNC’s Jake Knapp. The right-hander threw seven innings, allowing five hits and striking out 10. He threw a whopping 115 pitches. 

Miami’s six hits came from the top five guys in the lineup. When your whole lineup isn’t producing, it is hard to win. Time and time again, it can be seen that when the offensive is performing, the pitching and the defense aren’t, and vice versa. Inconsistencies have been a key theme for this Miami Hurricanes baseball team.

The Hurricanes look to rebound from their 2-0 loss on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Boshamer Stadium.

The Miami Hurricanes looked up to secure a victory after a series loss to Florida State this past weekend. Everything was going well through two, with the score still at zero, when an entourage of errors and defensive mistakes occurred in the third to wipe any chance they had at winning the game. Miami went on to lose its second straight game, now 1-3 in the past four games.

Starting the midweek for the Hurricanes was graduate right-hander Reese Lumpkin. Lumpkin, making his sixth start of the year, mowed down the first six batters he faced. All changed in the top of third. After a quick strikeout, he hit Stetson (14-12, 4-2 ASUN) catcher Anthony Gonzalez and then walked the next batter. Isaiah Barkett hit a double down the left field line to score Gonzalez. Foster Apple, Stetson’s left fielder, hit a ball to sophomore Daniel Cuvet, who mis-threw the ball to first, scoring two. Lumpkin proceeded to strike out the next two batters. After three, the score was 3-0.

Lumpkin did not last two long after the third. With a pair of base runners on and no outs, Jordan Taylor bunted, and Lumpkin sailed the throw over Renzo Gonzalez’s head at first base as one runner touched home. Lumpkin’s night was finished after that, throwing three innings and giving up two hits, and five out of the six runs scored. He would also strike out five. 

Alex Giroux happened to be the first pitcher out of the bullpen for Miami, and his outing was not pretty. He gave up a pair of singles but also had an error himself as well as R. Gonzalez. Giroux gave up two runs, zero of them earned, facing eight batters in one inning. Miami had three of its five errors in the fourth. Miami trailed by eight going into the fifth inning. 

Stetson’s starter, senior Justin Solimine, had a spectacular start, only giving up one hit in three innings of work. Despite the great production from Solimine, Stetson decided to use the bullpen for the rest of the game.

Solimine’s only hit given up happened to be to freshman center fielder Fabio Peralta. Peralta has been hot as of late and is fueling this inconsistent Miami offensive. He would single to right center again in the eighth and pick up his fifth hit in two games. He now has a team-leading .379 batting average. 

One of Miami’s two runs came off a towering 388 foot blast off the bat of Derek Williams to left field in the fifth inning. Williams’s fifth home run of the year moved Miami to within seven, down 8-1. 

Three freshmen came out of the ’pen for the Hurricanes. Michael Fernandez, Tate Derias, and Lazaro Collera pitched a combined three innings in relief. DeRias’s performance was the most impressive, retiring four batters in a row. 

An unexpected move came in the top of the ninth when Miami (14-12, 1-5 ACC) was down 11-2. The usual Friday starter, sophomore Nick Robert, came in to pitch in relief. He allowed one hit while striking out two. This could hint at a change in the starting rotation as Miami hits the road this weekend. 

Miami will head to the great state of North Carolina for the second time in three weeks, this time to the University of North Carolina. The first game of the series is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m.