Miami (10-11, 4-3 ACC) produced a walk-off, bases loaded single in the bottom of the 11th inning to take the series opener from No. 24 Virginia (13-8, 3-4 ACC) at Alex Rodriguez Park.
Raymond Gil delivered the game-winning hit with no outs in the bottom of the 11th inning. The first three Hurricane batters of the frame reached base and Gil drove a pitch into the right center field gap for the walk-off victory.
The Virginia defense helped starting pitcher Derek Casey (Mechanicsville, Va.) and reliever Andrew Abbott (Halifax, Va.) limit Miami to just two earned runs over 10 innings of work. The Cavaliers turned a season-high three double plays, including an inning-ending twin-killing in the bottom of the 10th.
In the bottom of the seventh, a relay throw from left fielder Christian Hlinka (Frenchtown, N.J.) was cut-off by Justin Novak (Tokyo, Japan) and fired over to Tanner Morris (Crozet, Va.) covering third base to cut down the potential go-ahead run.
Casey produced his third quality start of the season, allowing just two runs over seven innings of work. Despite allowing nine-hits, he did not walk a batter for the second time in his last three starts. He’s issued only two free passes in his last 21.2 innings pitched. Casey struck out six batters and lowered his season ERA to 3.83.
Initially trailing, 2-0, Virginia tied the game up in the top of the sixth. Nate Eikhoff (Bristow, Va.) and freshman Alex Tappen (Lower Gwyneed, Pa.) strung together, back-to-back, runs-scoring hits with two outs to even the game.
Miami starting pitcher Jeb Bargfeldt pitched into the eighth inning and limited Virginia to just six hits over the first 7.2 innings. Bargfeldt faced the minimum over the first three innings and had his no-hit bid squashed in the fifth when Cameron Comer (Powell, Ohio) singled to right center field.
The middle game of a three-game series is scheduled for Saturday (March 24) at 7 p.m. The Cavaliers will have left-hander Daniel Lynch (2-2) on the mound and he’ll be opposed by Evan McKendry (3-2).
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Chris Graham
