Miami rallied for seven runs in the eighth to erase a 5-2 deficit, and the second-seeded Hurricanes defeated seventh-seeded UVA, 9-5, in the 2015 ACC Baseball Championship on Wednesday in Durham, N.C.
Virginia had scored two runs in the top of the eighth on a two-out, two-RBI single by Joe McCarthy. A Kenny Towns three-run homer in the sixth had put the Cavs on top for the first time on the afternoon, and Connor Jones was cruising.
But Jones hit the wall in the bottom of the eighth, giving up a one-out bloop single to Jacob Heyward and a walk to Ricky Eusebio. Jones was lifted for reliever Kevin Doherty, who promptly gave up an RBI single to Christopher Barr that made it 5-3.
Closer Alec Bettinger relieved Doherty, and induced a grounder to second off the bat of George Iskenderian that Ernie Clement misplayed for an error, allowing Eusebio to score, cutting the lead to 5-4.
Bettinger walked Zack Collins to load the bases, and after getting a two-strike count on the next hitter, David Thompson, gave up a bloop two-run single that gave Miami the lead at 6-5.
Garrett Kennedy followed with a three-run homer.
Jones went seven and a third innings and was charged with four runs, two earned, on four hits, striking out seven and walking two.
Bettinger took the loss, giving up four runs, three earned, on two hits in a third of an inning.
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