Tossed into the game in the bottom of the eighth inning with his team trailing by two, junior Dave DiNatale entered the batters box confident and relaxed.
squeaked past Bethune-Cookman 7-6 at Mark Light Field on Wednesday night.
''I was just trying to be aggressive and get a good pitch to hit,'' DiNatale said. ``He came right back at me the second pitch, and I was trying to drive it up the middle and hit it hard.''
Dennis Raben started the eighth with a walk and Joey Terdoslavich reached base on a single. The Wildcats (14-9), who used three pitchers in the inning, struck out two batters before giving up the hit to DiNatale.
The Canes were able to control the top of the Wildcats' lineup, limiting the first five batters to two hits. But Neal Jones kept Bethune-Cookman in the game by going 3 for 4, including a solo home run to left field in the sixth inning that gave the Wildcats their largest lead, 6-3.
''We came [out] sluggish, but we picked it up at the end,'' DiNatale said. ``That's what championship teams do.''
Miami relievers Kyle Bellamy (2-0) and Carlos Gutierrez shut the Wildcats down in the final two innings. They gave up a combined two hits and struck out three.
''It wasn't a very big deficit, but we have never been down in a game that late,'' said Gutierrez, who picked up his fifth save. ``Just showing that we could come back and do it was a big step for this team.''
Grandal, a freshman catcher who was 2 for 4, had a consistent night defensively. He threw out two runners, including the third out in the ninth.
''Grandal got some big hits, and every ball he threw to second was right on the button,'' coach Jim Morris said. ``He did very, very well tonight.''
Jemile Weeks hit an RBI triple in the third inning, the 17th triple of his career. He is tied for the school record for career triples with Calvin James, who played in the early 1980s.
Hurricanes pitchers combined to walk just one batter and struck out 12.
