Lack of late hitting plagues Miami, falls to Boston College

Hurricanes right-hander Jake Garland took the mound in Brighton, Mass., Sunday in search of his second-straight victory, after allowing one earned run the prior week at North Carolina.

The freshman ran into immediate trouble in the first inning, however.

Though a low-scoring outcome emerged in Game 2, the Boston College Eagles scored early and defeated Miami, 11-6, at Harrington Athletics Village.

Garland (5-2) was lifted after 1 2/3 innings, after digging a substantial hole for Miami (24-15, 15-14 Atlantic Coast Conference) early in a contest it allowed 15 hits.

Boston College (19-22, 8-19 ACC) threatened immediately, as second baseman Cody Morissette lofted an RBI single to center field to bring home leadoff hitter in center fielder Sal Frelick.

The trouble for Garland doubled in the second inning, after two scoreless frames were seen from the Hurricanes’ lineup to start.

Eagles designated hitter Luke Gold, who registered a season-best four hits, knocked a double down the left field line on a 2-2 count with two outs. First baseman Jack Cunningham then delivered a base hit through the right side to score the cleanup hitter, giving Boston College a 7-0 advantage.

UM had a firm answer in the third, nonetheless.

Launching his first home run of his collegiate career, freshman catcher Carlos Perez got his team on the board to lead off the inning.

And the momentum began to shift in the direction of the Hurricanes.

Freshman third baseman Yohandy Morales recorded a team-high 34^th RBI, scoring sophomores in second baseman Anthony Vilar and left fielder Jordan Lala to create a 7-3 ballgame.

Two outs later, Boston College right-handed starter Alex Stiegler, a Yale graduate transfer, relinquished another two-RBI to junior designated hitter Raymond Gil.

Gold was as good as his last name, as he continued to simmer off sophomore right-hander Jake Smith in the bottom of the fourth. The Chapel Hill, North Carolina native may have struck out seven Eagles batters, though their second-best hitter lined a two-run shot to left field as Boston College jumped ahead, 9-5.

The bottom of the sixth represented the final scoring threat for Miami, as Lala grounded out to first base while scoring Perez.

After freshman reliever Andrew Walters filled Smith with one out in the bottom of the sixth, Gold tripled to center field to score Morissette, as the Boston College lead extended to four, 10-6.

The top of the seventh ended almost as soon as it began, as Eagles reliever Charlie Coon retired sophomore catcher Adrian Del Castillo, junior first baseman Alex Toral, and Gil in order.

Junior third baseman Gabe Rivera tapped a two-out base hit to center field, though Vilar lined out to end the eighth.

Again burning Miami’s bullpen in the eighth was Gold, who doubled down the left field line to score Frelick — an exclamation point hit for the Eagles in their five-run win.

Garnering his second save in 2021, Coon tossed only seven pitches in the top of the ninth to prevent the Hurricanes from seeing the sight of a secured sixth conference series win.

Despite relinquishing six earned runs on 10 hits, Stiegler picked up his second victory after six innings.

Miami will return home to Coral Gables and prepare for its second non-conference weekend series versus Appalachian State on Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.