Mike Kaffee
Hurricanes Baseball Reporter
[email protected]
Miami SWEPT as the Noles take game 3 in a heated finish 6-4. It has been 44 years since the Canes were swept by the Noles and for the Noles, it comes as sweet revenge for the Canes doing likewise to them last year. Plenty of bad blood between the two teams aggravated by the Tomahawk Chop which drove the Noles fans and players to a higher level. It was an electrifying environment not seen anywhere else. Any time these two schools get together in any sport you can feel the hostile rivalry in the air as seen with tempers flaring from both benches in the 8th inning after the solo HR by Marco Dinges. Three players got ejected: Jason Torres, Edgardo Villegas for Miami, and McGuire Holbrook because of misconduct. The highly contested game came down to the final out with the go-ahead run coming to bat. Lorenzo Carrier, with HR power, steps up to the plate with men on 1st and 2nd, two out.
Herick Hernandez had to be at his best giving a similar performance of last week if Miami was going to avoid its second consecutive ACC sweep. Miami got off to a similar start as yesterday taking an early start only seeing it lost in the bottom of the inning with a 2-run response by the Noles. Jacoby opened the first with a lead-off walk advancing to second on Edgardo grounding out 5-3. With two outs, Dorian singles to center drawing first blood.
The Noles quickly responded with an opening double which should not have been. A high fly to shallow left had the left side of the infield and Edgardo chasing after it. Edgardo should have called everyone off for it was his play. Instead, it drops beside Edgardo which the sun might have had an interest in the play. With a Man on second, a well-hit ball off the right-field screen ties the score at one. Two batters later, Nole’s third hit of the inning gave them the go-ahead run and the lead 2-1.
Miami comes right back in the second to tie the score at two. Jack Scanlon opens the inning with a single through the left side, Costello a one-out walk, with Jack advancing to third on Urso’s FO to right. With runners on the corners, Jacoby singles to left scoring Jack to tie the score at 2.
The third would see the Hialeah Fire lighting the fire of the Noles as they torched him on three consecutive extra-base hits which would prove decisive in consummating the sweep. Back-to-back doubles to open the inning followed by Cam Smith’s 10th HR of the season extended the Noles lead 5-2.
Miami still had life in their bats opening the 4th with a lead-off single by Lucas Costello moving him to third on a one-out single by Jacoby. A SF to center by Edgardo brought the Canes to within two runs.
The next 3 innings remained scoreless with the excellent relief work of Miles Caba and Nick Robert. With the Noles leading by two into the 8th, they added an insurance run which generated turmoil from both benches. One out Marco Dinges batting. 1-1 the count, Dinges sends a long fly to right clearing the screen to provide the insurance run the Noles were seeking. Words were exchanged as Dinges circled the bases setting up what followed. The umps got together after what I assume Dinges was arguing about which eventually resulted in Torres being ejected which had JD storming out of the dugout with words being exchanged between him and the home plate umpire. Somewhere in this medley of exchange Edgardo also gets ejected along with reliever McGwire Holbrook coming onto the field at the start of the 9th to express himself in actions causing his ejection.
After all settled down with the 3 ejections, the Cane would have one last chance to avoid the sweep trailing by three. With two outs all appeared bleak for any comeback. Jake Kulikowski, PH for the ejected Edgardo, singles to right followed by Daniel getting hit by pitch bringing the tying run to the plate. Dorian singles through the middle scoring Jake and now the go-ahead run steps to the plate. Lorenzo is 1-4 today with a single in the second and needs good contact to keep the rally alive. First pitch, Carrier hits a hard low line drive to the right of the SS who makes a brilliant stab on the ball denying another run and the hopes of Miami alive. The Noles win the shoot-out but more importantly the bragging rights with a sweep.
Each team with 9 hits apiece but the difference was that all nine of the Cane’s hits were for singles and the Noles 7 of their 9 hits were for extra bases which included two HRs that generated three runs. We can’t win ballgames without utilizing our most potent weapon: the long ball. We can’t generate enough singles within a single inning to make a difference as shown by leaving 10 stranded compared to the Noles 5. The secret to the Nole’s success is that they go on a feeding frenzy among themselves motivating them to the next level which seems to be missing with our players. Hitting small ball just doesn’t cut it. The fuel must come with the extra base hit which we fail to produce today. Just two players with a multiple-hit day: Jacoby Long 2-4(RBI) and Dorian Gonzalez 3-5 (2RBIs).
Miami returns home for a 5 game home stretch where each game has to be a MUST win. JD has until Wed to regroup and come up with a game plan to turn around this winless progression in ACC play. They should have a confidence builder with Bethune-Cookman on Wed but more importantly, they can not afford to drop another ACC series or the postseason will be very much in doubt. First pitch against BC Wednesday 6PM