Miami 7, No.13 North Carolina 3: Seventh Inning Rally Gives Hurricanes Series Win

A four-run seventh inning rally resulted in a comeback victory for Miami on Saturday night to give the Hurricanes (16-6, 6-2 ACC) their second consecutive series win over a Top 20 opponent. Miami has now won their first three series in conference play in 2022 and have an opportunity for their first series sweep in ACC play on Sunday afternoon.

North Carolina took an early lead in Saturday’s game in the top of the first inning. Vance Honeycutt led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a stolen base. UNC second baseman Johnny Castagnozzi took advantage of the run scoring opportunity, hitting a two-run home run to right-center field to make the score 2-0.

The Hurricanes immediately responded in the bottom of the first. CJ Kayfus opened the inning with a walk before back-to-back doubles from Edgardo Villegas and Yohandy Morales tied the game at two.

After the early scoring both Hurricanes starting pitcher Karson Ligon and North Carolina starting pitcher Connor Bovair combined to not allow a run over the rest of their outings. Ligon finished the game with five innings pitched and six strikeouts after allowing the two runs in the top of the first.

North Carolina took a late-game lead in the top of the sixth when they produced a two-out run. Vance Honeycutt walked to give UNC a baserunner, and then the ACC’s stolen base leader stole second and scored on a single from Angel Zarate to put North Carolina 12 outs away from tying the series.

However, a four-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning gave Miami the lead. CJ Kayfus started the rally with a walk before Edgardo Villegas followed with a single. Yohandy Morales tied the game at three with an RBI-single to right field before a clutch two-run double from Maxwell Romero put Miami in the lead. The Hurricanes extended the lead with an RBI-single from Jacob Burke, and another run scored in the bottom of the eighth inning for Miami when CJ Kayfus scored on a wild pitch after he reached base on another walk.

Andrew Walters then entered the game with a four run lead in the ninth inning and retired UNC in order to finish the game and earn the series win for Miami. The Hurricanes win on Saturday night gives them an opportunity for their first sweep of the season in conference play on Sunday afternoon. First pitch of Sunday’s game is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. with Alejandro Rosario on the mound for the Hurricanes.

Game Info

Winning Pitcher: Alejandro Torres (2-0, 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K)

Losing Pitcher: Kyle Mott (5-1, 2.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K)

Save: None