Three HRs, 16 hits as Miami Hurricanes baseball thrashes UCF, 14-3
Home cooking, sometimes there’s nothing like it. Right after being swept by Wake Forest, the Miami Hurricanes needed to respond over a five-game home stand at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.
They did so by playing some of their most complete baseball of the season.
The No. 20 Hurricanes completed an undefeated homestand on Tuesday night, dominating the UCF Knights to a 14-3 win.
“It was a good, complete game,” head coach Gino DiMare said. “We ended up having 16 hits, had some home runs, and just put up a lot of runs.”
Miami scored within the first two innings of every game against Florida State this weekend and kept that rhythm going versus UCF. Dominic Pitelli and Dorian Gonzalez, Jr. each roped RBI doubles in the second to give Miami a 3-0 advantage, with the Gonzalez’ two-bagger plating two.
Tuesday marked the third consecutive game Miami doubled twice.
Pitcher Alejandro Torres was masterful again. After throwing a career-best three and two-thirds innings last midweek against FIU, the right-hander tossed a perfect three innings Tuesday night, striking out five UCF batters.
The Knights got on the board the following inning with a Ben McCabe RBI single to cut the lead to 3-1, but the Hurricanes responded right back. Pitelli took an off-speed pitch down the middle over the wall in right field, scoring two runs to give UM a four-run lead. The homer and a double by C.J. Kayfus would chase UCF starter Cameron Leiter after just three and two-thirds innings.
“He’s got some pop, obviously,” DiMare said about Pitelli. “When he gets a hold of something, he can hit it out of the park.”
Things started to fall apart defensively for UCF in the sixth. Gonzalez Jr. recorded a sacrifice bunt fielder’s choice, then Kayfus dribbled an infield single to load the bases with nobody out.
Ian Farrow has been known for big hits this season, and with one swing of the bat, unloaded the bases with a triple that crept past Tom Josten in right field. The FGCU transfer would be brought home three pitches later as Yohandy Morales lifted a sacrifice fly, giving the Hurricanes a 9-1 lead.
Renzo Gonzalez and Jason Torres capped the night with each of their second home runs of the season in the eighth, truly putting the icing on the cake. Miami mashed 11 home runs during the home stand and has an ACC-best 60 on the season.
Miami out-scored opponents 47-14 during the homestand, getting quality starts, timely hitting, and some major home runs. That was everything you would want from a Top-25 caliber team.
“Every game is the most important game off the year,” Hurricanes Junior Dominic Pitelli said. “We came in today knowing what we did this weekend, but knowing that we still have to compete and that’s what we did today, and now we’re ready for the weekend.”
Torres improved to 3-0 this season for the Hurricanes, while Cameron Leiter dropped to 0-2 on the year for the Knights.
The Hurricanes head on the road for another Top-10 series this weekend against No. 7 Virginia. The Cavaliers have started the season a perfect 17-0 at Disharoon Park. First pitch for game one is scheduled for Friday at 6:00 P.M.
