Miami 11, Boston College 3: Ligon, Pitelli Help Hurricanes to Saturday Win

The Miami Hurricanes won 11-3 against Boston College on Saturday night, and moved to 10-4 (1-1 ACC) on the season after the victory. The Saturday night win gives Miami the opportunity to win their first ACC series of the season on Sunday afternoon. Dominic Pitelli and Karson Ligon led Miami to the win, with Pitelli’s four RBI performance and Ligon’s six, one-run innings laying the foundation for the win.

Saturday’s game started as a pitching battle between Ligon and Boston College starter Sean Hard. Neither pitcher allowed a run until the third inning, when Dominic Pitelli broke the tie with a solo home run, his third of the year. The Eagles were able to respond to tie the game in the top of the fourth however, when a Joe Vetrano solo home run made the score 1-1.

Miami retook the lead with a four run bottom of the fourth. Dorian Gonzalez led off the inning with a walk before Lorenzo Carrier singled to put two-men on for the Hurricanes. An Edgardo Villegas RBI-double that landed just fair down the left field line scored the first run of the inning, before a fielder’s choice hit by Jacoby Long scored Carrier after Carrier was caught in a rundown but a throw bounced off a Boston College defender and into the outfield. Dominic Pitelli hit a sac-fly for his second RBI of the evening for the third run before a Jacob Burke RBI-single made the score 5-1.

The Hurricanes extended the lead in the top of the fourth. Maxwell Romero started the inning with a walk, the second consecutive inning Miami had their leadoff hitter reach. Dorian Gonzalez reached on an error to give the Hurricanes two men on, and then an infield single loaded the bases. With two outs in the inning an error at second base scored two runs to give Miami a 7-1 lead heading into the sixth inning.

A seventh inning rally scored the final four runs of the game for Miami. Dorian Gonzalez again reached to lead off an inning, this time walking, before Edgardo Villegas and Jacoby Long were both hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. A wild pitch scored a run and advanced Villegas and Long to scoring position, and Dominic Pitelli took advantage, hitting a two-run double to left field for his third and fourth RBIs of the game. CJ Kayfus then got involved with a two-out double that scored Pitelli to give Miami an 11-1 lead.

In the ninth inning Boston College scored two runs to build some offensive momentum for the series-determining game on Sunday afternoon. A single and two walks loaded the bases before an RBI-groundout made the score 11-2. After a hit-by-pitch reloaded the bases an infield single scored the third and final run of the game for the Eagles before Anthony Arguelles forced a groundout to end the game.

The 11-3 victory gave the Hurricanes their tenth win of 2022. Miami has a chance to win their first conference series of the season on Sunday afternoon with Alex McFarlane on the mound after Saturday’s win. First pitch of the series finale is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on ACC Network Extra (streaming in the ESPN App).

Game Info

Winning Pitcher: Karson Ligon (2-1, 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K)

Losing Pitcher: Sean Hard (0-1, 4.0 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 2 K)

Save: None