Hurricanes wait out lengthy weather delay, then beat Troy to open NCAA tournament
Before the Miami Hurricanes could play their opener in the 2026 NCAA tournament, they had to wait out Mother Nature.
Miami’s first game in the Gainesville regional was delayed more than four hours due to inclement weather Friday night. They passed the time by playing cards and hacky sack or watching games at other regionals on an opening day that featured a slew of upsets.
But once the Hurricanes finally took the field at Condron Family Ballpark and Rob Evans fired his first pitch at 10:15 p.m. — well after the initial 6 p.m. scheduled start — UM took care of business, although things got a little close for comfort late.
As Friday night turned into Saturday morning, second-seeded Miami defeated the third-seeded Troy Trojans 10-5, with UM using a five-run eighth inning to take the lead for good.
Second baseman Jake Ogden and left fielder Max Galvin got the key frame started with back-to-back one-out doubles to break the tie and give Miami a 6-5 lead. Right fielder Derek Williams and first baseman Alex Sosa each drew walks to load the bases before catcher Alonzo Alvarez hit an RBI single, designated hitter Dylan Dubovik hit a sacrifice fly and third baseman Brandon DeGoti (who replaced starter Gabriel Milano in the top half of the inning) ripped a two-run double to cap scoring in the frame.
The Hurricanes (39-18) advance to the winner’s bracket and will play host and No. 8 national seed Florida at 8 p.m. Saturday. The Gators (40-19) won their regional opener against No. 4 seed Rider 8-7 Friday afternoon on a Brendan Lawson walk-off home run in the ninth. Rider erased a four-run deficit with hit three home runs over the final two innings to take a 6-4 lead in the top of the eighth and tie the game 7-7 in the top of the ninth before Lawson’s game-winning solo shot to center field.
Evans pitched five innings, giving up three earned runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out four. He threw 97 pitches, 61 of which landed for strikes.
The offense gave Evans run support in the third inning when shortstop Vance Sheahan and Williams hit home runs.
Sheahan’s home run, a solo shot to left, was just his third of the season and first since May 9 against Louisville. Williams’ home run was a three-run blast to left-center that came after Ogden was hit by a pitch and Galvin reached on an error. It was the 16th long ball of the season for Williams, who also has a team-leading 69 RBI — putting him six shy of cracking the top-10 in Hurricanes history for most in a season.
Troy (32-30) then rallied over the next two innings to get within a run. Sean Darnell broke up the shutout with an RBI single in the fourth inning and Blake Cavill hit a two-run double down the right-field line in the fifth to get the Trojans within 4-3 before the Hurricanes turned to their bullpen.
Left-handed pitcher Jack Durso tossed two shutout innings with a pair of strikeouts to get Miami through the seventh.
Miami added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh when Williams led off with a walk and then went first to home on a wild pitch from Troy relief pitcher Dylan Alonso and throwing error from catcher Jimmy Janicki to go up 5-3.
Troy tied the game on a Drew Nelson two-run home run in the top of the eighth before Miami put together its five-run bottom half of the inning.
Glidewell bounced back from his rough top of the eighth to pitch a scoreless ninth to seal the win.
Now, Miami can shift its attention to in-state rival Florida. The Hurricanes lost both of their games to the Gators in the regular season in Coral Gables by scores of 7-2 on Feb. 27 and 8-4 on Feb. 28 (the finale of that three-game series was canceled due to inclement weather).
UM will likely have sophomore right-handed pitcher AJ Ciscar (5-4, 4.44 ERA) on the mound on Saturday. Florida will start ace Aidan King (8-2, 2.68 ERA). Ciscar pitched seven innings against Florida in the regular-season matchup on Feb. 27, giving up four runs (three earned runs) on five hits with six strikeouts. King pitched just 2 1/3 innings in his regular-season appearance against Miami on Feb. 28, giving up three unearned runs before exiting the outing with cramps.
Troy will face Rider in the loser’s bracket at 3 p.m. Saturday prior to the Miami-Florida game.
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