Mike Kaffee
Hurricanes Baseball Reporter
[email protected]
Miami unravels being Mercy Ruled on a one-hitter 17-1. With so much at stake, it was a total team collapse from the opening pitch to the final strike-out. It was one of those days, all so common for the Canes this season, that nothing went right. The first pitch of the game foretold how this game would play out. A lead-off double set up the first of 17 runs that would follow. Tech would lead off the next 4 of 5 innings with a double that generated the remainder of their runs. JD would bring in 5 relievers to try to stop the onslaught of hits/runs that seemed to never end and finally brought Slaide Naturman in the 6th to retire the Jacket in order but to no avail. Trailing 17-1, Miami had one inning to come up with 7 runs to avoid a game stoppage. With the bats as cold as they were today, the Canes went down in order suffering one of their worst defeats of the season.
Carlos Perez got his second start at first and Lorenzo Carrier changed roles from DH to right field with Jake Kulikowski picking up DH duties. The remainder of the lineup stayed the same. Coming into the season it was obvious that we had pitching issues; mainly in the BP. No one imagined the starting rotation would be as unsettling as they have been. Of the three Gage has been the most reliable lately but as for Rafe and Herick it has been a struggle. Time is running out this season, and JD will have to seriously consider whether to stay with the current three or pull someone from the BP who could give us 6 or 7 quality innings. Even the position players might need a shakeup to find someone who can step up and be consistent at the plate. On paper, the present 8 should be doing just that but are not doing so. With two more ACC series left, it looks more certain that the Pitt series will determine who goes and who stays home.
Tech took a page out of the Cane’s playbook regarding HRs. Miami lives or dies by the long ball and the Jackets capitalized today with 4, three in the third, and one in the 4th. The Jackets smothered the Canes with the long ball and interspersed the HRs with 5 doubles and 7 singles. They batted overall .500 (16-32) only leaving 5 on base compared to Miami’s sole hit coming in the third by JD Urso. It was JD’s 2nd HR in as many days. Miami struck out 8 times within the first three innings ending the day batting .045 (1-22). It was not a statistical day one to hang one’s hat on. Not only embarrassing for our hitters but pitching as well.
Herick was having troubles as mentioned from the opening pitch but managed to keep the Canes within reach trailing 2-1 into the 3rd. The third marked the beginning of the end and the end of the end for Herick Hernandez and the hope for Miami on taking game 3 and the series. the Jackets scored five runs on 6 hits, three being HRs and two coming back-to-back.
The Ramblin Wreck kept the pedal to the metal in the 4th and 5th with an additional 10 runs as JD unsuccessfully brought in Jordan Vargas, Ben Chestnutt, Chris Scinta, and Ashton Crowther in the attempt to stop the Jackets from a runaway display of pure power. Slaide Naturman was the stopper but not before 17 runs were put on the board.
Miami has two weeks before their next ACC opponent. They are going to need help from Boston, Pitt, and ND with their loss since we haven’t been able to do it on our own. Non-conference series next week against BYU. This will be a time for JD and the players to gather their forces, regroup, and develop a winning plan. First pitch Thursday at 7PM
