Arizona 4, No.6 Miami 3: Arizona Rallies Late to End Miami’s Season

A 4-3 loss to Arizona ended the Miami Hurricanes’ season on Sunday night. A two-out Arizona rally in the top of the ninth inning meant Miami finished 1-4 in postseason play and brought the Hurricanes to 2-8 in the postseason over the last two years.

Despite the first pitch of the game coming just an hour after Miami had lost to Ole Miss, the Hurricanes started quickly. CJ Kayfus hit a lead off home run to give Miami the immediate advantage in the first elimination game of the Hurricanes’ NCAA Tournament.

After the first inning home run, Miami didn’t have a hit until the sixth inning. In the meantime, a solo home run tied the game at 1-1. Fortunately for Miami, the sixth inning hit was a key one, as Yohandy Morales hit a go-ahead two-run home run to put the Hurricanes up 3-1.

Arizona got within one run of the Hurricanes with a solo home run in the top of the eighth inning, and that set up a dramatic rally in the ninth that eliminated Miami from the NCAA Tournament.

Andrew Walters entered the game to try and close things out for the Hurricanes and struck out the first two batters he faced. However, a two-out infield single, that could have been scored as an error, opened the door for a comeback, and Arizona took full advantage. After a wild pitch, Walters hit the next batter he faced before giving up a two-run double that gave Arizona the lead when Miami had been one out away from advancing to the regional final.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, a single and a wild pitch advanced the tying run to scoring position. A flyout advanced the runner to third, and a two-out intentional walk to Yohandy Morales, and Morales advancing to second due to defensive indifference, put two runners in scoring position. Despite that, Miami left both runners in scoring position, the ninth and tenth runners left on base in the game, and the Hurricanes were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament.

On Sunday Miami became the first national seed eliminated from the NCAA Tournament, despite the Coral Gables Regional beginning a day late. The Hurricanes left a combined 17 men on base between their two games on Sunday, and have now been eliminated at the regional stage or not made the NCAA Tournament at all every season since 2016.

Miami finishes 2022 with a record of 40-20, but the season ends, on June 6, much earlier than anyone anticipated earlier this season.

Game Info

Winning Pitcher: Trevor Long (6-3, 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K)

Losing Pitcher: Andrew Walters (0-1, 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K)

Save: None