A crucial balk cost the No. 17 Miami Hurricanes, despite strong pitching, as the No. 10 Florida Gators snatched victory and the series. One mistake derailed their momentum.
Coral Gables, Fla. - The 17-ranked Miami Hurricanes baseball squad suffers a heartbreaking 8–4 loss against the 10-ranked Florida Gators, ultimately losing the series. They had an encouraging performance compared to Friday night's game, but in the end, it came down to one crucial mistake.
Takeaways from the game:
- Hurricanes; starting pitcher's performance: Senior left-handed Rob Evans was the first on the mound and was strong overall against the Gators. It was bad in the second inning, when he gave up five hits and four earned runs. However, the 22-year-old didn't let the early struggles carry over for long.
Evans finished with six innings pitched, allowing five hits and four earned runs, and a new career-high 12 strikeouts. He had two shutouts in the third and fourth innings.
- Game-changing moment: Following Evans' performance, senior right-handed pitcher Ryan Bilka took over on the mound at the top of the seventh inning. However, similar to Lazaro Collera on Friday night, he was caught in a bases-loaded situation.
The game was tied at 4–4, but Bilka had struck out the following batters: Jacob Kendall and starting center fielder Kyle Jones, then up next was starting shortstop Brendan Lawson. He swung on a 1-2 count and the ball flew deep to center field, but Michael Torres caught it.
However, as soon as the pitch was thrown, the ruling was a balk. Bilka did not officially pause before releasing. He kept tapping his left foot before pitching, then didn't show enough of a complete stop afterward.
As the bases were already loaded, starting right fielder Cash Strayer would score the go-ahead run for the Gators, who didn't look back, scoring three more runs to seal the deal.
The final score was 8—4.
Third baseman junior Daniel Cuvet continues to struggle in this series, despite a strong start to the season. He's been hitless in seven total at-bats against the Gators. Coach J.D. Arteaga discussed how difficult it's been for the preseason All-American.
"It's hard being Daniel Cuvet," he told MiamiRoundTable. "The guy in the lineup. The other team really focuses on not letting you beat them. Today [Saturday], I thought there [were] some pitches to hit. Yesterday [Friday], he swung at pitches that he shouldn't be swinging at, just tried to do a little bit too much."
"He's [Cuvet] having a rough weekend, but it's not easy."
Coach Arteaga refused to answer any balk questions.
The Hurricanes will close the Gators series on Sunday, with the game set to start at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time. They'll look to avoid a sweep and finish on a good note.
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