The Miami Hurricanes offense ignites, securing a hard-fought 8-6 win over the Virginia Tech Hokies and clinching their second straight ACC series.
Coral Gables, Fla. – Coming off a dominant 19-1 outing on Friday, the Miami Hurricanes baseball program clinched its second consecutive ACC series win of the season after an 8-6 victory over the Virginia Tech Hokies on Saturday night. The offense remained on fire and the pitching staff has gotten stronger in execution, outside of a shaky ending.
At the top of the first inning, Hurricanes sophomore right-handed starting pitcher Lazaro Collera faced a bases-loaded situation after walking junior catcher Henry Cooke. The Hokies had a chance to score with only one out, but after a putout on sophomore designated hitter Hudston Lutterman, junior left fielder Nick Locurto couldn’t get to home plate safely due to getting tagged by junior catcher Alex Sosa.
In the Hurricanes’ first opportunity to punch the scoreboard, senior second baseman Jake Ogden hit a triple to center field. However, the team failed to capitalize with a runner in scoring position after redshirt senior first baseman Brylan West struck out swinging with two outs already on the board.
Similar to Friday night, the Hokies took over the scoreboard first at the top of the second after a run scored by junior shortstop Pete Daniel off a double to left-center field by center fielder Sam Gates. The Hurricanes managed to prevent further damage with a putout on junior first baseman Ethan Gibson, followed by Collera striking out Locurto while looking on a 1-2 count.
After a clean third inning by Collera, junior third baseman Daniel Cuvet hit a triple down to right field. Once again, the Hurricanes had a runner in scoring position, but this time capitalized after a sacrifice fly to left field, allowing the 20-year-old to score and tie the game at 1-1. At the bottom of the fourth, the offense ignited. Sophomore center fielder Fabio Peralta singled to left field, which allowed redshirt senior left fielder Max Galvin to score.
The Hurricanes kept rolling with two more runs, then Cuvet hit a two-run homer to left field, leading 6-1 entering the top of the fifth. It reached 385 feet with a 105 exit velocity.
Cuvet became the official third-place holder in the program’s all-time career home runs list with 53 and counting, passing Yonder Alonso.
Collera finished with a second consecutive strong outing as a starter: six innings pitched, just five hits and one run allowed, and five strikeouts. The 20-year-old threw 96 total pitches and 60 strikes.
The game appeared to be out of reach as the Hurricanes led 8-2 until a late effort at the top of the ninth after freshman second baseman Ethan Ball hit a three-run homer to cut the deficit. However, sophomore first baseman Sam Grube struck out swinging, resulting in the coach J.D Arteaga and the team remaining in the win column. They look to complete the sweep on Sunday afternoon.
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