Mike Kaffee
Hurricanes Baseball Reporter
[email protected]
Miami drops another one-run game losing the opener to the Noles 5-4. Miami beat themselves as the left side of the infield gave up three unearned runs in a game in which they had to perform perfectly on the field and at the plate. Gage Ziehl except for one inning put up a brilliant performance in a losing effort. In the two innings, the Noles broke through, the errors resulted in 3 unearned runs. It was a pitching duel against two of the top hurlers in the ACC and for the Noles starter Jamie Arnold ranked best in D1 baseball with an ERA of .94. They were deadlocked each pitching 7 innings each allowing 3 earned runs. the difference was the 2 unearned runs coming from the not-so-perfect defense. Neither team killed the ball with the Canes batting .167 versus .185 and 5 hits each, but the difference was our 10 strikeouts to theirs 3. It was another tough loss against a top-10 team.
A rivalry game where records don’t mean a thing where if you don’t perform at your highest level, one mistake could cost you the game. For the first two innings, each pitcher dominated the hitters. Each team recorded a DP in the first and Gage needed just 7 pitches to retire the side. In the second inning, both sides went 3up/3down. The Noles got their break in the third inning bringing 8 to the plate. Opening with a double and advancing to third on a SAC bun, the Noles would not be denied with an RBI single followed by a walk to load the bases. That is where it should have ended. A grounder to Cuvet, the play is to the plate and the Noles score first resulting from an E5 on the throw to home. The bases remain loaded and Noles take advantage with a SF to center which should have been the third out, but instead, the second unearned run comes across the plate. 3-0 at the end of three, two runs unearned.
Miami would not get their first hit until the 5th inning with Dorian leading off with a double. A WP sends Dorian to third bringing Jason to the plate with the opportunity to get the Canes on the board. With a strikeout tonight and 2-19 in his last 4 games, he made it 20 with another strikeout. Carrier walks putting runners on the corners bringing Lucas Costello to the plate. Not having the season he had hoped for, his experience playing with Wake and being at the College World Series knows how to play under pressure at the plate when it counts. A double to left, Miami’s second hit of the game and second of the inning scores two and puts them one from tying the score. JD Urso, another player having a disappointing year both in the field and at bat, singles to right, scoring Lucas but gets thrown out at second 9-2-6. For the Canes, the mission was accomplished tying the game at three.
The Canes had an opportunity to take the lead in the 6th having runners on 1st and 2nd with a pair of outs and Torres a chance to break out of his slump. Instead, he recorded his 3rd strikeout of the game.
Gage entered the 7th with 78 pitches. Gage having retired the last 10 batters on only 32 pitches (3 innings) never looked sharper. The 7th inning started like the 3 prior with a FO to center. What should have been a routine grounder to short is mishandled by Urso opening the door to disaster. 1-0 pitch to Mike Williams and he sends it over the wall in left giving the Noles the lead by a pair.
6 outs remaining to get back into the game bringing Jacoby Long to lead off the 8th. Jacoby takes a 2-1 count and strikes paydirt hitting the scoreboard (388′) bringing the Canes to within one. Edgardo is hit and the momentum has shifted once again. Dorian hitting into a 3-6-1 DP put the cap on the bottle and had nothing left to generate any type of comeback with a 3up/3down inning in the 9th
Another heartbreaker that has been the storyline all too often these past couple of weeks. First Clemson, then Duke, and starting again with the Noles. Offensively, not a productive day with only 5 hits. Both teams were below the Mendoza Line but the difference was the costly mistakes we made in the field. No player with multiple hits. Three of our five hits were for extra bases. Two doubles(Dorian and Lucas) with Jacoby our lone HR.
The only bright side was the pitching of Gage Ziehl and watching Brian Walters returning to the mound after a scare last Saturday having to leave the game unexpectedly. It was only precautionary but he was badly missed on Sunday when his services were much needed.
JD Arteaga said afterward: It’s been the same message after every game. We’re playing hard and doing a lot of good things, but we’ve got to clean it up. We have to make those plays.”
Tomorrow, it will be up to Rafe to turn things around to even the series. We can’t do like we did on the field defensively and our hitting needs to look like they did against FAU on Tuesday. One can’t expect 19 hits but hopefully a lot better than 5. The first pitch 6PM.
