Miami 3, No.13 North Carolina 2: Walk Off Gives Hurricanes Sweep on Sunday

The Miami Hurricanes tied Sunday afternoon’s series finale against No.13 North Carolina in the bottom of the ninth inning and walked the game off in the bottom of the 14th inning on their way to a series sweep in Coral Gables. The sweep was Miami’s second of the season, and means the Hurricanes (17-6, 7-2 ACC) move into a tie with Virginia for first in the ACC’s Coastal Division.

Both teams had incredible pitching on Sunday afternoon, with UNC scoring their only runs of the game in the top of the fourth inning. Tomas Frick was hit by a pitch and Mac Horvath singled to give UNC two runners on base. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch and then scored on a Hunter Stokely two-RBI single that made the score 2-0.

Outside of the fourth inning, Miami starting pitcher Alejandro Rosario was excellent. Rosario finished the game with five innings pitched, allowing five hits while striking out eight during his outing. For UNC, starting pitcher Max Carlson also pitched tremendously well, throwing five innings, allowing just one run, and earning a career-high 11 strikeouts.

Miami had just 12 outs remaining to score two runs to tie the game when a run in the sixth inning brought the Hurricanes to within one run of UNC. Zach Levenson singled to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a walk before a groundout advanced both runners to scoring position. Edgardo Villegas walked to load the bases and bring Yohandy Morales to the plate, and Miami’s third baseman hit an RBI-groundout to make the score 2-1. Unfortunately Jacob Burke hit a pop up to foul territory before the Hurricanes could tie the game in the inning.

As a result, the Hurricanes headed into the bottom of the ninth inning needing a run to tie the game. Jacob Burke led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a groundout that was the second out of the inning. With the Hurricanes down to their last out Gaby Gutierrez stepped up to the plate, and the freshman came through with a clutch two-out RBI-single that tied the game at two and sent Miami and UNC into extra innings.

UNC and Miami both saw their bullpens record multiple scoreless innings over the course of extra innings. The Hurricanes bullpen finished Sunday with nine scoreless innings after Rosario exited the game, while UNC had a combined six scoreless innings.

As both teams had strong performances in relief, neither side could score until the bottom of the 14th inning. A single and two walks loaded the bases for Miami with one out, and a single from Renzo Gonzalez through the middle of the infield scored Jacob Burke from third and gave the Hurricanes the extra innings victory.

The win finished off a 4-0 week for Miami as the Hurricanes won their mid-week matchup against FAU before winning all three games this weekend to earn their first sweep in ACC play of 2022. The Hurricanes now leave Coral Gables for a four game road trip that begins on Wednesday night with a trip to FGCU, first pitch of that game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

Game Info

Winning Pitcher: Anthony Arguelles (1-1, 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K)

Losing Pitcher: Nik Pry (1-1, 0.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K)

Save: None