No. 8 Miami (24-6, 11-2 ACC) held No. 3 Virginia to two hits in a 6-2 series opening win on Friday.
Three Miami (24-6, 11-2 ACC) home runs proved to be the difference in the game. The Hurricanes cut Virginia’s 2-0 lead in half in the second on a solo homer by Maxwell Romero Jr. and took the lead for good on a two-run shot by Yohandy Morales in the third. Gaby Gutierrez added a solo home run in the fifth to make it a 4-2 ballgame.
Freshman Justin Rubin recorded both of the Cavalier hits, going 2-for-3 with an RBI in the contest.
The Cavaliers (26-4, 9-4 ACC) scored two unearned runs in the top of the second inning, capitalizing on a CJ Kayfus fielding error. Rubin plated the game’s first run on an RBI single up the middle that allowed Chris Newell to score from second. Colin Tuft came around to score on an RBI groundout by Griff O’Ferrall.
After the three home runs, Miami made it a four-run game with two runs in the sixth, one an RBI double down the left field line by Jacob Burke and Romero Jr. scored on a double play induced by Cavalier reliever Paul Kosanovich.
Kosanovich did not allow a hit over three innings of relief and struck out two batters. The righthander only needed to face two batters in the sixth, entering with the game with no outs and the bases loaded thanks to the double play and strikeout to end the inning. He served up another double play ball to end the seventh inning.
Postgame: Virginia coach Brian O’Connor
“We had some opportunities early in the game and we just couldn’t get the big hit. That’s what this game was came down to. Miami had a handful of players that got some really big hits, the three home runs and the double down the line that ended up knocking (Nate) Savino out of the game. They pitched terrific. We knew this coming in that they had really, really excellent pitching and we’d have to play great baseball and unfortunately, we couldn’t match them but that’s to their credit. They stepped up, they were aggressive and got some big hits to drive in runs and we didn’t.”
Up next
The ACC series continues on Saturday with the middle game scheduled for a 7 p.m. first pitch. UVA will have lefty Brian Gursky on the mound (5-0) and he will be opposed by righthander Karson Ligon (4-1).
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Chris Graham
