Miami falls to 10th-ranked Florida State, 11-7
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Despite a two-homer performance from third baseman Daniel Cuvet, the University of Miami baseball dropped an 11-7 slugfest to No. 10 Florida State in front of sellout crowd Friday evening at Dick Howser Stadium.
“Our bullpen didn’t get the job done,” head coach J.D. Arteaga said. “They had a job to do and put fires out. Florida State did a good job putting pressure on us and getting the first or second guy on every inning. Our guys didn’t come in and shut the door. Kudos to them and a poor job by our bullpen.”
Cuvet crushed a three-run jack in the third before socking a solo shot in the fifth, but the Seminoles (29-5, 9-5 ACC) scored in seven of their eight trips to the plate to secure the series.
Miami (16-18, 6-11 ACC) mounted a 1-0 lead in the first behind a Dorian Gonzalez Jr. RBI double, but Florida State responded immediately.
The Seminoles put up a pair of tallies in both the first and second innings to grab a 4-1 advantage.
Cuvet’s 11th homer of the year leveled the score at four, but Florida State kept its foot on the gas pedal.
The Seminoles answered with a run in the third and a two-run blast by right fielder James Tibbs III in the fourth.
Miami’s freshman phenom smacked a 420-foot bomb to left-center field to bring the Hurricanes back within two.
“He’s swinging the bat the way we’re expecting him to swing the bat,” Arteaga said of Cuvet. “He is who we think he is. He’s going to be a really, really good player for us.”
However, Florida State was far from done at the dish.
The Seminoles manufactured a run in the fifth, two more in the sixth and tacked on another in the seventh to pad their cushion to 11-5.
Miami right fielder Edgardo Villegas pulled the visitors closer with a two-run single in the eighth, but Florida State relievers Joe Charles and Connor Hults held the Hurricanes there.
Left-hander Brennen Oxford (2-0) earned the win, yielding just one run across 4 2/3 innings out of the bullpen.
Junior lefty Rafe Schlesinger (2-3) was tagged with the loss after exiting after 3 1/3 frames.
The Hurricanes and Seminoles are scheduled to conclude the annual rivalry series Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.
“There’s no quit,” Arteaga said. “We have to turn the page and keep moving forward.”
