No.24 Pittsburgh 6, No.18 Miami 4: Hurricanes Take First Ever Series Loss to Pitt

The Miami Hurricanes lost a weekend series to the Pittsburgh Panthers for the first time in program history on Saturday afternoon. The Hurricanes lost the game 6-4 and wasted far too many opportunities to change the outcome of the game. With the loss Miami drops to 17-10 (10-9 ACC) for the season and is now unlikely to host in this season’s NCAA Tournament.

Miami got out to an early lead on Saturday afternoon by scoring a run in the top of the first. Anthony Vilar walked and then advanced to third on a single and a fielder’s choice. Christian Del Castillo then drove in Vilar to give the Hurricanes the lead.

Pittsburgh came back with a three run bottom of the second. Two walks and a single scored a run before another run scored on a groundout. Jordan Anderson then hit a clutch RBI-single to score the third run of the inning for the Panthers.

The Hurricanes tied up the game with a two-run top of the third. Anthony Vilar again started the rally with a one-out single. Yohandy Morales followed him with an RBI-double before he scored on an error to tie the game at three.

Pitt added a run in the third and fourth to take the lead. Nico Popa scored the run in the third inning after he stole second and third and was driven in by Ron Washington Jr. Miami had massive issues controlling the Panthers on the bases Saturday, with Pittsburgh stealing five bases during the game. In the fourth inning Brock Franks led off the inning with a single, stole second, then scored on a Sky Duff double that made the score 5-3.

In the top of the sixth inning Miami looked to have a rally going when Christian Del Castillo singled to start the frame. However, Miami missed the opportunity for multiple runs when Del Castillo was ruled to have interfered at second on a grounder from Alex Toral which resulted in both runners being ruled out. Ray Gil followed the double play with a homerun to bring the Hurricanes within one run, but Miami was still left feeling like an opportunity had been missed.

Pitt reextended the lead in the sixth with a Nico Popa RBI-double, which left Miami in need of a two-run ninth inning to tie the game at six. The Hurricanes first three batters reached to load the bases with nobody out. However, Pitt managed to get two outs when Anthony Vilar flew out to left and Gabe Rivera was caught trying to get back to second base. Rivera had expected Dominic Pitelli to tag and score from third, but Gino DiMare chose to hold Pitelli which left Rivera way too far off of second base. The baserunning mistake cost Miami the game, with Yohandy Morales striking out looking to end the contest.

Miami badly needed to win this weekend’s series and instead will hope to be avoid being swept on Sunday. The Hurricanes could argue that the umpires affected the game today, with the interference call just before Ray Gil’s homerun and the last pitch of the game that struck out Morales both being calls that could have gone Miami’s way. That being said, Miami left eight men on base on Saturday afternoon, the Hurricanes made too many mistakes on the bases while Pitt stole five times, and the bullpen allowed multiple runs for the second game in a row.

Sunday afternoon Jordan Dubberly will pitch for Miami as the Hurricanes try to avoid being swept for the second time this season, and the second time in four weeks.

Game Info

Winning Pitcher: Matt Gilbertson (4-3, 7.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K)

Losing Pitcher: Victor Mederos (1-3, 2.0 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K)

Save: Dylan Lester (1)

(Box score posted when available)

Next Game

@ Pittsburgh Game 3

Date & Time: Sunday, April 11, 1:00 p.m.

Hurricanes Starter: Jordan Dubberly (1-0, 3.97 ERA)

Pittsburgh Starter: TBA

Radio: WVUM 90.5 FM

Television: ACC Network Extra (ESPN3)