Miami 11, FSU 0: McKendry Pitches a Gem

Before the first pitch was thrown of the final series between a Mike Martin coached Florida State Seminoles team and the Miami Hurricanes, Coach Gino DiMare presented the NCAA’s all-time winningest Head Coach with a weekend stay at the Biltmore Hotel and a round of golf at the legendary course. By the end of the night Coach DiMare’s Hurricanes had gifted Martin a series-opening loss as well.

A struggling Florida State offense stayed ice cold through tonight’s game. Evan McKendry pitched seven innings on the way to his fifth win of the season. The junior allowed just three hits while striking out nine. By the time McKendry handed the ball over to Bailey Mantilla in the top of the eighth the Hurricanes were in total control, with a comfortable ten run lead.

Miami’s bats started out quietly too, as Drew Parrish cruised through four innings in which he had faced the minimum amount of batters and allowed just one baserunner. Things unraveled for him in the fifth. Two singles and a groundout gave Miami two runners in scoring position, and Mike Martin made the bizarre decision to intentionally walk Michael Amditis to set up the double play, but bring Alex Toral, who had twelve home runs entering the game tonight, to the plate with the bases loaded. Toral responded to Martin’s kind gesture by depositing a ball over the fence in center for a grand slam that broke open the floodgates for Miami.

In the bottom of the seventh Miami pushed the game out of reach. Two walks and a groundout gave Miami two men in scoring position with two out. Freddy Zamora took advantage of the opportunity by driving in both runners to make the game 6-0. Adrian Del Castillo then walked, and a Ray Gil single scored Zamora to make the game 7-0. JP Gates followed with a double that knocked off the bottom of the wall in center and cleared the bases to make the game 9-0. Gates would then take third on a wild pitch and score on an error to push the lead to 10. Miami then added another run in the eighth with an RBI groundout from Freddy Zamora.

With Miami in total control Gino DiMare went to Bailey Mantilla, who hadn’t pitched prior to tonight this season, out of the bullpen. The freshman took advantage of his debut to work two scoreless innings and finish off the Friday night win over Miami’s biggest rival.

Tomorrow Miami will look to clinch the series win for the first time since 2016. The pitching staff that has struggled as of late will look to build off the strong performance of Evan McKendry to lead the Hurricanes to victory.

Game Info

Winning Pitcher: Evan McKendry (5-1, 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K)

Losing Pitcher: Drew Parrish (3-3, 4.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K)

Save: None

Box Score:

Next Game

Vs Florida State Game 2

Date & Time: Saturday, April 6th, 7:00 P.M. Eastern

Hurricanes Starter: Chris McMahon (1-2, 5.40 ERA)

FSU Starter: CJ Van Eyk (3-2, 4.54 ERA)

Radio: 790 The Ticket

Television: ACC Network Extra