No.19 Miami 4, Virginia 2: Timely Hitting, Clutch Pitching Gives Hurricanes Series Win

The Miami Hurricanes moved to 12-8 (7-7 ACC) with a 4-2 victory over the Virginia Cavaliers on Sunday afternoon. The win gave Miami the series victory over UVA and also gave the Hurricanes a 3-1 record over the course of this week.

Miami took an early lead in the third game of the series. In the top of the first Jordan Lala reached on an error by Virginia second baseman Max Cotier. Lala moved to second on a throwing error on a pickoff attempt before advancing to third on a groundout from Anthony Vilar. Lala scored when Yohandy Morales hit a sac fly to give Miami a 1-0 lead.

Both teams’ starters pitched well afterwards, with Miami starter Jordan Dubberly facing the minimum through three innings. He ran into trouble in the fourth however. A double from Nic Kent started the inning, but Dubberly got two quick flyouts to nearly work out of the jam. Unfortunately for Miami, a Brendan Rivoli single tied the game at one before Dubberly could get the last out of the inning.

Virginia took the lead and forced Dubberly from the game in the fifth. A two-out double prompted Gino DiMare to go to Daniel Federman out of the bullpen. Federman got a grounder that could’ve been the last out of the inning, but Dominic Pitelli made a throwing error that gave UVA a 2-1 lead.

Miami scored in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings to take the win and the series. In the sixth, Gabe Rivera singled and advanced to second on a sac bunt from Pitelli. Jordan Lala then came through with a clutch single to left-center that tied the game at two.

The top of the seventh saw Miami take the lead. Christian Del Castillo hit an infield single before Alex Toral followed with a single that moved Del Castillo to third. Ray Gil hit a sac fly to score Del Castillo from third and give Miami a 3-2 lead. Yohandy Morales added a run in the eighth inning with a solo homerun to right-center, which was his fifth homerun of the year and his second of the weekend.

Miami made a couple of big plays to win on Sunday afternoon. The Hurricanes bullpen had one of their best performances of the season so far, allowing no runs on 4.1 innings pitched. Both Daniel Federman and Carson Palmquist, who earned his seventh save of the season, were fantastic and totaled six strikeouts between them.

The Hurricanes will hope to build momentum heading into a mid-week game against FIU before facing Duke next weekend.

Game Info

Winning Pitcher: Daniel Federman (1-3, 3.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K)

Losing Pitcher: Mike Vasil (3-7, 7.0 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 K)

Save: Carson Palmquist (7)

Box Score:

Next Game

Mid-week Game @ FIU

Date & Time: Wednesday, March 31, 7:00 p.m.

Hurricanes Starter: TBA

FIU Starter: TBA

Radio: WVUM 90.5 FM

Television: ACC Network Extra (ESPN 3)