The Hurricanes lost the game and series vs the Dartmouth Big Green on Sunday. Miami once again looked lost at the plate and hopes for an NCAA tournament appearance are in danger, let alone the chances for a flight to Omaha.

The bad form of Michael Mediavilla continued today, as on the first pitch of the game a solo-shot put Dartmouth up 1-0, fortunately Mediavilla didn’t allow any more damage. Unsurprisingly the Hurricanes were retired in order in the bottom of the first, and the game rolled on to the second.

In the top of the second the defensive troubles the Canes’ have had all season once again reappeared. After a leadoff single, Michael Mediavilla gave up a balk to move the Dartmouth runner to second. Mediavilla then forced a ground ball to Johnny Ruiz at second, who mishandled it, and it bounced to Romy Gonzalez. Romy should have held the ball because he had almost no chance of throwing the runner at first, but instead chose to throw it, and the ball sailed into the outfield past Chris Barr. Dartmouth’s runner scored from second, and the batter made it all the way to third. After that, the next batter executed a tremendous safety squeeze that scored the runner from third, and Dartmouth was up 3-0 heading to the bottom of the second. In the bottom half of the second the Hurricanes did nothing, and the game continued on.

In the top of the fourth, defensive errors once again showed up for Miami. A one out single put a Dartmouth runner on first, and a perfectly executed hit and run gave Dartmouth runners at the corners. The runner on first then tried to steal second, and Joe Gomez threw the ball into centerfield trying to catch him, and the runner from third scored. After that a walk put runners back on the corners, and what should have been a double-play was nicely beaten out by the Dartmouth batter, and another run crossed the plate, making the lead 5-0 Dartmouth.

In the bottom half of the fourth it looked like the Hurricanes would respond, as two consecutive singles gave the Hurricanes two on with Randy Batista up to bat. However Batista quickly grounded out and the chance was ended.

After allowing two consecutive Dartmouth batters to get on base in the top of the sixth Mediavilla’s dreadful day was done, and Kevin Pimentel made his season debut in relief of him. Pimentel did stellar work to get out of the top of the sixth with no damage and he kept the faint hopes of the Canes’ alive.

In the bottom of the seventh the Hurricanes once again strung together two consecutive singles, and the hope for a miraculous comeback appeared, however the hope was short lived, as a strikeout ended the hope for a rally.

The Hurricanes once again had two on and two out in the bottom of the eighth, and once again the Hurricanes couldn’t push in the run.

In the bottom of the ninth the Hurricanes had two aboard again, this time with one out, and a rally appeared to be a possibility, unfortunately all the hopes were quieted by a fielder’s choice and then a groundout, and the Hurricanes lost the game and the series by a final score of 5-0.

Pimentel proved his abilities in this game, he kept the Hurricanes in it and stayed composed, even in the first tough situation he was presented with.

The bats also appeared to get going a little for the Hurricanes, they had a solid 8 hits on the day, and had there been a couple more well-timed hits and a fewer errors this game could have been closer...

But that didn’t happen, and the Hurricanes go into ACC play with almost no momentum and several big questions to answer. Mediavilla has to figure out what the problem is with his mechanics, and the defense has to improve for Miami to be a threat, those two things must improve, along with the aforementioned hitting.

Game Stats:

Winning Pitcher: Michael Danielak (2-0, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K)

Losing Pitcher: Michael Mediavilla (0-3, 7 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K)

Save: None

Next Game:

Tuesday, March 7, vs FIU, 6:00 P.M

Hurricanes Starter: Greg Veliz (0-0)

Radio: WVUM 90.5

Television: ACC Network Extra

P.S: I know Box Scores have been requested, I’m currently figuring out the best way to do them, expect them to appear on Tuesday!