Miami 20, UMBC 1: Sunday Sweep

After a 3-2 Saturday night win over UMBC the Miami Hurricanes completed their sweep of the Retrievers with a 20-1 victory on Sunday. Miami absolutely dominated this game and the whole series. The pitching staff allowed just one earned run over three games. Miami is now 9-2 on the season after this weekend.

The first inning had a similar script to the first inning of the first game of the series. A lead off walk gave UMBC a runner, and an errant pick off from Brian Van Belle allowed the runner to go to third. A sac-fly scored the runner from third before Van Belle could get out of the inning and the Hurricanes fielding issues had been exposed again.

Fortunately, Miami responded in the bottom of the first. With two outs in the frame Freddy Zamora ripped a double to the left-field corner to give Miami a baserunner. Adrian Del Castillo followed Zamora with a double of his own and tied the game at one. Alex Toral continued the two-out rally with an RBI single up the middle. Despite allowing a run in the inning the Hurricanes still led 2-1 heading to the second.

Brian Van Belle settled in after his rough first inning. He pitched five innings with a career high nine strikeouts. He allowed just two hits and one walk and completely shut down the Retrievers’ offense.

In the bottom of the second and third Miami scored off home runs. Jordan Lala earned a two-out walk to start things off in the second, and Anthony Vilar knocked the first home run of his career to give Miami a 4-1 lead. The bottom of the third saw Ray GIl hit an absolute no-doubter to left field to make it 5-1.

However, Miami really blew the game open in the bottom of the fifth. Three walks loaded the bases for Freddy Zamora with one out in the inning. Zamora stepped up to the plate and launched a grand-slam to make the game 9-1 Miami. Alex Toral then walked, and Ray Gil hit his second home run of the day to make it 11-1 Hurricanes.

Things got even worse for UMBC in the bottom of the fifth. Anthony Vilar walked and Freddy Zamora reached on an error to give Miami two men on base. Alex Toral took advantage of the opportunity and launched a ball for his ACC-leading seventh home run of the season to make the game 14-1 and give the Hurricanes their fifth home run of the afternoon.

The ‘Canes tacked on even more runs in the bottom of the seventh. Tyler Paige reached to lead off the inning by running hard to first base on a dropped third strike. After Adrian Del Castillo flew out Willy Escala knocked a bloop single that dropped between three Retrievers to give Miami two men on. Gabe Rivera followed by hitting a ball hard to deep left center that the left fielder lost in the sun: so what should have been a fly out turned into a two-run triple that made the game 16-1. JP Gates, who came into the game as the designated hitter, followed with an RBI double that made the game 17-1.

In the bottom of the eighth Miami added another three runs. Dylan Cloonan led off the inning with a double, and Adrian Del Castillo was hit by a pitch to give Miami two men on with two out. Willy Escala then hit an infield single, and Gabe Rivera knocked a two-RBI single to center with the bases loaded. Miami scored their 20th run of the afternoon off of a balk. Twenty runs is a new single game high for runs for the Hurricanes this season.

Albert Maury, Jr. made his second appearance for the Hurricanes this season to cap off four innings of scoreless baseball out of the bullpen. Mark Mixon had another solid performance in the sixth, and Alex Ruiz and Jeremy Cook both pitched scoreless frames in their 2019 debuts.

Miami will play Appalachian State in a mid-week game on Wednesday and then open ACC play this weekend with a series against Georgia Tech. The ‘Canes will hope to continue to build momentum over the next week.

Game Info

Winning Pitcher: Brian Van Belle: (2-1, 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K)

Losing Pitcher: Nick Trabacchi (1-1, 3.0 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 3 K)

Save: None

Box Score:

Next Game

Vs Appalachian State

Date & Time: Wednesday, March 6, 6:00 P.M. Eastern

Hurricanes Starter: Slade Cecconi (1-0, 3.27 ERA)

Appalachian State Starter: Brandon Boone (0-1, 2.25 ERA)

Radio: WVUM 90.5 FM

Television: ACC Network Extra