No.14 Notre Dame 5, No.9 Miami 0: Hurricanes Lose on Senior Night

The Miami Hurricanes lost 5-0 on senior night against Notre Dame, and will now need some help on Saturday afternoon to win the ACC. Virginia Tech defeated Duke 6-1 on Friday, and with their victory and Miami’s loss they now hold the advantage heading into the final day of the season. The Hurricanes will need Duke to win on Saturday, while also defeating Notre Dame, in order to finish first in the ACC.

Hurricanes starting pitcher Karson Ligon needed just eight pitches to finish the first inning on Friday, but he ran into some trouble in the second inning. Jack Zyska hit a solo home run to lead off the inning, and back-to-back batters reached safely after the home run. Fortunately, Ligon worked out of the jam and limited Notre Dame to just one run in the inning.

On offense the Hurricanes only managed one hit against Notre Dame starter Austin Temple. Temple worked six innings, allowing just four base runners, with only one runner reaching second base during his outing. Notre Dame added some run support for their starter in the fifth inning. A walk from Jack Penney opened the inning, and third baseman Jack Brannigan hit a two-run home run to extend Notre Dame’s lead to three.

After Temple exited the game in the seventh inning Miami recorded back-to-back singles off of Notre Dame reliever Matt Bedford. The Hurricanes missed the scoring opportunity after a 4-6-3 double play ended the inning.

Notre Dame added to their lead in the eighth and ninth inning. A solo home run from Jack Penney added to the lead in the eighth, before an RBI-single from Carter Putz made it a five-run game in the top of the ninth inning. The Hurricanes tried to rally in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases through a Maxwell Romero double, a Jacob Burke single, and a two-out walk from Gaby Gutierrez. However, Alex Rao ended the game with a strikeout of Dominic Pitelli to even up the series. Across the final three innings of the game Miami left five men on base, including three runners in scoring position.

The loss now sets up a must-win game on Saturday afternoon for Miami. If the Hurricanes do not win tomorrow they are eliminated from contention to win the conference. First pitch of a pivotal final game of the season is set for 1:00 p.m.

Game Info

Winning Pitcher: Austin Temple (4-1, 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K)

Losing Pitcher: Karson Ligon (6-5, 5.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K)

Save: Alex Rao (2)