After dropping first two games, Miami Hurricanes beat No. 8 Florida Gators in finale
The Miami Hurricanes lost their weekend series to the No. 8 Florida Gators, but they were able to find some solace in the way the three-game set ended.
After falling 6-2 on Friday and 6-3 on Saturday, Miami rallied from a four-run deficit to win the finale 13-7 on Sunday at UF’s Condron Ballpark and hand the Gators their first loss of the season.
The final game looked much more like how the Hurricanes (9-3) played through their first two weeks of the season — except doing so against one of the country’s top teams.
After UF (11-1) tagged Hurricanes starter Brian Walters for four runs in a pair of RBI singles by Bobby Boser and Landon Stripling in the first inning and a Brody Donay two-run home run in the third, Miami started its comeback.
Dorian Gonzalez hit an RBI single in the fourth to get Miami on the board before UM cut the deficit to 4-2 on a Derek Williams bases-loaded walk.
The Hurricanes loaded the bases again in the fifth and scored five runs on a Jake Ogden hit by pitch, three consecutive singles from Gonzalez, Tanner Smith and Bobby Marsh and Renzo Gonzalez double play to to up 7-4. UM then tacked on two more in the six on RBI singles from Max Galvin and Ogden and scored another four runs in the eighth, capped by a bases-clearing double from Marsh, who had his fourth four-RBI game of the young season.
Walters went 4 2/3 innings, striking out four while giving up those four runs on six hits and two walks.
Carson Fischer followed with 2 1/3 innings, retiring the first seven batters he faced before giving up two runs on four consecutive hits to begin the eighth inning and being pulled with runners on first and second with no outs. Will Smith relieved Fischer and after giving up a single to load the bases got out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts and a ground out.
Smith then held Florida to one run in the ninth to seal the win.
Recaps from first two games
▪ Friday: The Hurricanes led 2-1 early on an Ogden RBI single in the first that scored Daniel Cuvet and a third-inning wild pitch that plated Michael Torres. But Florida responded with a pair of solo home runs in the bottom of the third to take the lead for good and then tacked on one run apiece in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to take the 6-2 win.
Starting pitcher Nick Robert went five innings, giving up three runs on four hits and two walks while striking out seven.
▪ Saturday: Starting pitcher Griffin Hugus struck out 10 while giving up just two runs over five innings, but Florida tacked on four more runs against Miami’s bullpen in the 6-3 Hurricanes loss. Five of Florida’s six runs came via three home runs. The Hurricanes were held scoreless through seven innings before Cuvet hit a two-run home run in the eighth and Gonzalez hit an RBI single in the ninth in a comeback bid that fell short.
The week ahead
The Hurricanes have a five-game week upcoming.
It starts on Tuesday when they play FIU at loanDepot park, home of the Miami Marlins. First pitch for that game is at 7 p.m.
After that, Miami plays the remaining four games at Mark Light Field. The Hurricanes host Villanova for a 6 p.m. Wednesday game and then will face UConn for a weekend series — Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
.JPG)