The Hurricanes took their second win of the season in as many games by beating the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 8-4 at The Light tonight.

Jeb Bargfeldt made his first start as a Hurricane tonight and appeared to have nerves early...

The nerves finally showed their full force in the top of the third, when Jeb gave up a solo home run to Juwuan Harris, and then a bunt that dribbled in front of starting catcher Joe Gomez, who attempted to make the throw to first, only to have the ball thrown into the right field corner and a runner on to third base with only one out. After this a RBI single by Christian Campbell put Rutgers up 2-0 early on the Canes. This rough inning had many asking for an early call to the bullpen from Jim Morris, even we got involved...

It was hard to argue with the thoughts of many to get Jeb out of the game, however Jim Morris stuck with him which paid off later.

In the bottom of the third the Hurricanes came to life, it all started with Hunter Tackett’s first hit as a Cane’ right back up the middle. This put a man on first with no outs, and the Hurricanes were primed for a rally. In the next at-bat catcher Joe Gomez struck out, but Hunter Tackett managed to steal second, then #9 hitter in the order Brandon Gali knocked Tackett it in with an RBI single, and the game was now 2-1. Leadoff man Carl Chester then came to the plate and knocked a single into left field for his first hit of the year and kept the rally going. After this, right fielder Michael Burns came to the plate and hit an RBI single tying the game at 2-2, and showed off some smart base running skills when he took second on a poor throw from the Rutgers outfield. Senior Johnny Ruiz then hit a groundout to second base, but it was enough to push Carl Chester across the plate, and before you knew it the Canes’ took a 3-2 lead going into the top of the fourth.

Jeb Bargfeldt came out for the top of the fourth with every Miami fan hoping he would settle into the game. Things didn’t start positively however, when the first at bat of the fourth resulted in a HBP. However Jeb quickly corrected it by forcing a ground ball for a double play, and his form quickly improved, as after that nothing much happened for either side for the next two innings.

After a walk with two outs in the top of the sixth, Coach Morris had seen enough and removed Bargfeldt for Albert Maury, who made his UM debut. Bargfeldt pitched a solid game, giving up five hits, 2 runs, only one of which was earned (second run didn’t count as a ER because of Gomez’s throwing error), and walked two over 5.2 innings of work.

The Canes’ tacked on another run in the bottom of the frame when Edgar Michelangeli got on base with a two out single, and Romy Gonzalez hit a double right after him to knock in the Hurricanes fourth run.

Maury then continued to perform well in his debut allowing only a single in the top of the seventh. The bottom of the inning provided yet another offensive display from the Hurricanes as the UM hitters found a new way on base, walking. Two consecutive walks from Brandon Gali and Carl Chester put two men on with Michael Burns again up to bat. Burns made another nice display of hitting, knocking a double to rightfield and scoring two runs before being thrown out at third on a very nice relay from Rutgers. This put the Canes’ up 6-2 heading into the top of the eighth.

Maury then found himself in a little bit of trouble with lack of control until he forced a nice double play ball...

Maury then escaped the inning and it was on to the bottom of the eighth, where you guessed it, the Canes’ scored again. Romy Gonzalez hit a RBI double that I think almost everyone watching thought was a HR, followed up by an RBI groundout by Chris Barr. This put the Hurricanes up 8-2 and everyone felt that the game was pretty much over...

Rutgers didn’t want to go out without a fight though, as in the top of the ninth Juwuan Harris hit a 2 run shot for his second of the night, that was all from the Scarlet Knights however, and the game finished at 8-4.

Game Stats:

Winning Pitcher: Jeb Bargfeldt (1-0, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 5.2 IP)

Losing Pitcher: Serafino Brito (0-1, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 6.0 IP)

Save: None

Next Game:

Tomorrow 1:00 P.M Eastern vs Rutgers, the Hurricanes have already won the series but look for a season opening sweep.

Starting Pitcher: Michael Mediavilla (2016: 11-2, 3.40 ERA)

Radio: 560 WQAM

Television: ACC Network Extra