No.2 Miami 7, FAU 6: Late Comeback Secures Hurricanes’ 14th Straight Win

Five runs across the seventh and eighth innings secured the Miami Hurricanes 14th consecutive win on Tuesday night. Miami’s winning streak is now the longest active winning streak in Division 1 Baseball after No.1 Tennessee’s 23-game win streak ended on Tuesday night against Tennessee Tech. Tuesday’s win means the Hurricanes are now 27-6 (13-2 ACC) this season.

A two-run rally in the top of the first inning gave FAU an early lead on Tuesday night. A hit-by-pitch opened the inning before a single put two runners on base for Florida Atlantic. A fielder’s choice then put runners on the corners for FAU, and a walk loaded the bases. A fielder’s choice and an error then scored two runs to put the visitors ahead.

Miami tied the game in the bottom of the second. Jacob Burke walked and stole second to start the rally before advancing to third on a groundout. Zach Levenson drove in Burke with an RBI-single, and Henry Wallen singled to put two runners on base for the Hurricanes. Both runners advanced to scoring position on a wild pitch and a sac-fly from Carlos Perez tied the game.

FAU put together a four-run top of the sixth inning to put Miami’s win streak in serious danger. Back-to-back singles led off the inning, and a throwing error on a sac-bunt scored a run to give Florida Atlantic the lead. A two-RBI single immediately followed to score the second and third runs of the inning before a single made the score 6-2 and left the Hurricanes trailing by four runs with just 12 outs remaining for a comeback.

The comeback began with a two-run bottom of the seventh inning. CJ Kayfus led off the seventh with a single before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Edgardo Villegas reached on a walk to put two runners on base for the Hurricanes, and a throwing error on a Maxwell Romero RBI-single scored two runs to make the score 6-4.

In the eighth inning, Miami completed one of their most incredible comebacks in recent memory. A one-out walk gave the Hurricanes a much-needed baserunner, and then Edgardo Villegas followed with a walk to bring Yohandy Morales to the plate as the go-ahead run. Morales hit what should have been a pop out, but it was dropped in shallow right field to allow the first run of the inning to score and Morales to reach base. A balk advanced both runners to scoring position before Maxwell Romero was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two-out in the inning. A wild pitch scored the game-tying run, and then Jacob Burke hit an RBI-infield single to give Miami their first lead of the game.

After the Hurricanes took the lead Andrew Walters entered the game to try and earn his 11th save of the season. Miami’s closer did just that, striking out the side to secure the victory for the Hurricanes.

With the win, Miami will head into a series against No.21 Virginia Tech with their winning streak still intact and a four game lead in the ACC’s Coastal Division. Miami is now ranked 5th in RPI in the nation after the mid-week victory with an opportunity for three more Quadrant 1 wins over the weekend. The opening game of the weekend series is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Thursday night.

Game Info

Winning Pitcher: JP Gates (1-0, 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K)

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

Save: Andrew Walters (11)