Big fourth inning leads new-look Miami Hurricanes to season-opening win over Niagara
The new-look Miami Hurricanes baseball team, with 29 new players (15 transfers plus 14 freshmen), needed just one big inning to start the 2025 season on a high note.
The Hurricanes scored 10 runs in the fourth inning to cruise to a 14-2 win over the Niagara Purple Eagles on Friday at Mark Light Field.
The 14 runs marked the highest-scoring season opener for Miami since 2019, when the Hurricanes beat Rutgers 19-3.
Every player in Miami’s starting lineup, which featured seven newcomers (five transfers and one freshman), scored at least one run, with Miami logging 12 hits and drawing nine walks.
About that fourth inning...
The Hurricanes’ big inning looked like it wasn’t going to happen. The frame began with a pair of groundouts to the pitcher before the offense erupted.
The top of the lineup — shortstop Jake Ogden, second baseman Dorain Gonzalez and third baseman Daniel Cuvet — hit three consecutive singles to score the first run.
Left fielder Max Galvin reached on a pair of Niagara errors that also allowed Gonzalez to score. A Derek Williams walk loaded the bases for designated hitter Bobby Marsh, who hit a single to left field to drive in two more runs.
A fielding error by Niagara’s third baseman on a Tanner Smith groundball scored Williams. A walk to Todd Hudson loaded the bases again and then Marsh, Smith and Hudson all scored on a Michael Torres popup that fell just behind Niagara’s shortstop.
Ogden and Gonzalez each then logged their second hits of the inning — both driving in a run in the process — before Cuvet struck out to end the inning.
To recap: 10 runs on six hits, two walks and five Niagara errors.
That pushed Miami’s lead to 13-0 after also scoring one run in the second inning and two in the third.
By the sixth inning, coach J.D. Arteaga began pulling starters to get reserves some playing time.
Big debut for Bobby Marsh
While the Hurricanes had strong efforts throughout the lineup, Marsh’s production stood out.
The designated hitter, who transferred to Miami after two seasons at Penn State and a year at FAU before that, went 4 for 4 with four RBI and two runs scored in his Miami debut. Marsh hit a leadoff double in the second inning, a two-run double in the third, the two-run single as part of the 10-run fourth inning, and another single in the fifth.
Marsh has a track record for being a steady hitter. He batted .310 with 12 home runs and 82 RBI over 97 games during his two seasons at Penn State.
Nick Robert steady in first career start
Perhaps lost in the offensive outburst was a steady first start by sophomore right-handed pitcher Nick Robert, who was used exclusively out of the bullpen during his freshman season at Miami.
Robert gave up just one run over five innings — a solo home run to Curtis McKay in the fifth inning — while holding Niagara to four hits total. He struck out four and didn’t issue a walk.
His fastball sat in the low 90s throughout the game and touched 95 mph early in the game. Of his 79 pitches, 46 were strikes.
Reese Lumpkin (one inning), AJ Ciscar (1/3 inning), Lazaro Collera (1 1/3 innings), Ryan Ashford (1/3 inning) and TRias (one inning) pitched the final four innings, holding Niagara to one run on four hits and a walk.
.JPG)