Miami 1, South Alabama 0: Stellar Pitching Earns Hurricanes Regional Opening Win

The Miami Hurricanes opened the NCAA Tournament with a 1-0 win over South Alabama on Friday night. The win put Miami in the winner’s bracket of the Gainesville Regional. Miami will play South Florida Saturday afternoon after the Bulls defeated top-seed Florida on Friday afternoon.

Hurricanes starter Alejandro Rosario was spectacular in his first start in the NCAA Tournament on Friday. The freshman worked 6.1 scoreless innings and looked comfortable for the whole game. The right-hander allowed just four hits and two walks while striking out five in what may have been his best performance in orange and green.

As good as Rosario was, the Hurricanes bullpen may have been even better. Daniel Federman relieved Rosario and worked around a baserunner to keep South Alabama scoreless. Federman has emerged as a great bullpen option for Gino DiMare in recent weeks, and he provided clutch pitching for the Hurricanes yet again tonight.

Carson Palmquist followed Federman out of the bullpen and had yet another great outing for Miami. Palmquist worked two scoreless innings, allowing just one baserunner, and earned his 14th save of the season to close out the game on Friday afternoon.

Miami managed to score just one run despite four hits and seven walks for Miami batters on the evening. The Hurricanes lone run of the game came in the fifth inning. A single started the inning before CJ Kayfus was hit by a pitch to give Miami two men on. Kayfus was hit in the face and had a cut above his lip, but after Miami’s training staff stopped the bleeding Kayfus remained in the game. A sac-bunt moved both runners to scoring position before a walk loaded the bases. Adrian Del Castillo then came through for Miami, hitting a sac-fly that scored the run that won the game for the Hurricanes.

The win sets Miami up incredibly well for the rest of the Gainesville regional. Host Florida lost to South Florida on Friday afternoon, so Miami will take on the Bulls in the winner’s bracket matchup tomorrow afternoon. At most, Miami would have to beat top-seed Florida once to advance out of the region after Friday’s results.

Miami’s crucial game against South Florida will begin at approximately 4:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. The Hurricanes will hope their pitching staff gives them another strong performance on Saturday night.

Game Info

Winning Pitcher: Alejandro Rosario (6-4, 6.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K)

Losing Pitcher: Tyler Lehrmann (3-4, 4.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 0 K)

Save: Carson Palmquist (14)

Next Game

NCAA Tournament Game 2 Vs South Florida

Date & Time: Saturday, June 5, approximately 4:00 p.m.

Hurricanes Starter: TBD

South Florida Starter: TBD

Radio: WVUM 90.5 FM

Television: TBD / ESPN3