Jim Morris was kind, calling it a bad throw. Yonder Alonso said ''it was crazy,'' and Greg Miclat didn't want to talk about it.
He didn't need to say a word. Miclat's body language told the whole story. He slumped down, shook his head and walked off the field, and one by one Virginia players came to him, hugged him and consoled him.
It was Miclat's wild throw in the bottom of the 10th inning that beat Virginia, as the University of Miami won 4-3 at Mark Light Field, where a standing-room-only crowd hung around for the wild finish and the wild throw.
''We'll take it anyway we can,'' said Morris, whose Hurricanes are the consensus No. 1 team in the nation. ``I'd like to be swinging the bats better, and I'd like them to show more energy than we showed tonight.''
That lack of energy might be one reason UM (35-5, 19-2 ACC) blew a 3-0 lead to the 16th-ranked Cavaliers (32-14, 13-10), who have played the Canes perhaps as tough as anyone in two one-run losses this weekend.
The Canes won Saturday on the strength of some early scoring, one of the best bullpens in the nation, Miclat's wild throw and a run off Virginia closer Michael Schwimer, who has a 0.96 ERA.
Jemile Weeks led off the 10th with a double to right, and Schwimer intentionally walked Alonso, who had hit a two-run homer in the first. A passed ball sent the runners to second and third, and Mark Sobolewski hit a hard grounder at a pulled-in infield. Miclat made the play at short, but his throw to first took off and sailed over the fence behind first, giving UM its third (3-0) extra-inning victory.
''It was just kind of crazy,'' Alonso said. 'When he hit it, I was thinking `Uh-oh,' then he made that throw.
``It was a terrible night up until then. We were all in the dugout and we were upset [after blowing a 3-0 lead]. Then we won. It was kind of crazy. But we need to have more energy. Anytime you win, you'll take the win, but we've got to play better. It was a bad night, but good enough to win.''
UM took a 3-0 lead off Virginia starter Jacob Thompson, who was the Atlantic Coast Conference's runner-up for Pitcher of the Year in 2007. Alonso hit a two-run home run in the first inning, and the Canes added a run in the third when Alonso walked, raced to third on Sobolewski's single and scored on a passed ball.
It was the first time this season UM starter Eric Erickson started a game and didn't win. He was 6-0 in his first six starts, but he missed a month with a sore left forearm and was making his second start since coming back from the injury.
He couldn't have looked much better for the first four innings. Erickson took a no-hitter into the fifth. He walked only one and struck out five.
Then came Jeremy Farrell, who led off the fifth with his eighth homer of the season, a shot to left that gave the Cavaliers their first run in the series. Erickson has given up five home runs this season, four in his past two starts since his return.
The Cavs scored twice in the fifth and closed to 3-2 when Jarrett Parker's two-out single brought home John Barr, who walked and reached second on Franco Valdes' sacrifice bunt.
David Gutierrez replaced Erickson and gave up an unearned run in the sixth after a bit of controversy. David Adams, a native of Margate, walked with one out, stole second and raced to third when UM catcher Jason Hagerty's throw sailed into center field.
Morris stormed out of the dugout and argued that Virginia's Dan Grovatt, who was batting, stepped in front of Hagerty.
Replays indicated Grovatt, a left-hander, leaned in front of Valdes, but Morris lost the interference argument, and when Grovatt lined out to left field, Adams scored easily on the sacrifice fly to tie the score at 3.
It stayed that way until the 10th inning.
