In their first Super Regional since 2016, the Miami Hurricanes stood two wins away from Omaha with only the Louisville Cardinals standing in their way.
And while the Hurricanes hoped to get one step closer to their goal, they were surely kept in place as Louisville took a commanding 8-1 win in the opener.
Louisville was dominant on both sides of the ball with Patrick Forbes going five and two-thirds innings with nine strikeouts while the offense took charge with plenty of hard hits across the diamond, spearheaded by third baseman Jake Munroe’s two homer day.
Freshman A.J Ciscar got the start for the opening game for the Hurricanes, looking to recreate his opening start versus Alabama in the regional round, but struggled to execute with poorly placed pitches and a costly error as he only went two and a third innings giving up six earned runs.
After a quiet first inning, Miami threatened in the second after back-to-back walks followed by a HBP loaded the bases for UM. Forbes was really struggling for the Cards, but was able to escape the jam with back-to-back strikeouts to energize the Louisville dugout.
The Cardinals proceeded to ride said momentum with a pair of homers from Garret Pike and Munroe to take an early 2-0 lead. Ciscar was able to escape the inning, but a plethora of barrels indicated the Louisville lineup were seeing him well.
UM loaded up the bases again in the third, hoping to not squander the opportunity for the second inning in a row. The ’Canes were able to plate one via a Renzo Gonzalez sac fly, but were unable to truly seize the opportunity once again as Forbes worked out of the inning.
In a recurring theme of loaded bases, Louisville responded with a bases loaded situation of their own. And with one out the Hurricanes were gifted a life line with a double play opportunity grounded to Ciscar.
But he was unable to complete the play as he launched the ball past Tanner Smith at home which resulted in no outs being secured and two runs scored on the play. Furthermore, the baseball gods added onto the pain as the next batter in Munroe launched his second homer of the day to left field, a three run shot which gave Louisville a commanding 7-1 lead and ended Ciscar’s day prematurely.
With plenty of insurance for him to work with, Forbes began to coast through the next two innings despite his high pitch count, while redshirt sophomore Jake Dorn entered the game for the ’Canes.
Like in the Southern Miss blowout, Dorn was able to provide some key innings in a blowout game to save other bullpen arms, only allowing one run on a sac fly.
The sixth saw pitching changes for both teams as Miami was finally able to knock Forbes out of the game for righty Brennyn Cutts, but failed to capitalize on him through his appearance. Senior Jackson Cleveland came in to replace Dorn which further strengthened the pattern from the Southern Miss game last Sunday, effectively working through the UL lineup for two innings.
With both teams seeming content with turning the page to tomorrow, the pair coasted through the remaining innings as the score remained 8-1 through nine.
Louisville now sits one win away from going to Omaha as Miami needs to bounce back and win two in a row to make their Omaha return.
Even with the lopsided loss, there were some bright spots for the Hurricanes. If Ciscar was able to make the routine play, the third inning would’ve been over right then and there, erasing five of Louisville’s runs. Moreover, on the offensive side the ’Canes left 12 runners on base with only six hits on the day with Max Galvin accounting for three of them. And while it’s all what-ifs, the scoreline could’ve easily been flipped the other way.
With the best of three format of the super regionals, thankfully Miami will get an opportunity to right those wrongs tomorrow at 11:00 a.m ET as they look to keep their season alive.
And while the Hurricanes hoped to get one step closer to their goal, they were surely kept in place as Louisville took a commanding 8-1 win in the opener.
Louisville was dominant on both sides of the ball with Patrick Forbes going five and two-thirds innings with nine strikeouts while the offense took charge with plenty of hard hits across the diamond, spearheaded by third baseman Jake Munroe’s two homer day.
Freshman A.J Ciscar got the start for the opening game for the Hurricanes, looking to recreate his opening start versus Alabama in the regional round, but struggled to execute with poorly placed pitches and a costly error as he only went two and a third innings giving up six earned runs.
After a quiet first inning, Miami threatened in the second after back-to-back walks followed by a HBP loaded the bases for UM. Forbes was really struggling for the Cards, but was able to escape the jam with back-to-back strikeouts to energize the Louisville dugout.
The Cardinals proceeded to ride said momentum with a pair of homers from Garret Pike and Munroe to take an early 2-0 lead. Ciscar was able to escape the inning, but a plethora of barrels indicated the Louisville lineup were seeing him well.
UM loaded up the bases again in the third, hoping to not squander the opportunity for the second inning in a row. The ’Canes were able to plate one via a Renzo Gonzalez sac fly, but were unable to truly seize the opportunity once again as Forbes worked out of the inning.
In a recurring theme of loaded bases, Louisville responded with a bases loaded situation of their own. And with one out the Hurricanes were gifted a life line with a double play opportunity grounded to Ciscar.
But he was unable to complete the play as he launched the ball past Tanner Smith at home which resulted in no outs being secured and two runs scored on the play. Furthermore, the baseball gods added onto the pain as the next batter in Munroe launched his second homer of the day to left field, a three run shot which gave Louisville a commanding 7-1 lead and ended Ciscar’s day prematurely.
With plenty of insurance for him to work with, Forbes began to coast through the next two innings despite his high pitch count, while redshirt sophomore Jake Dorn entered the game for the ’Canes.
Like in the Southern Miss blowout, Dorn was able to provide some key innings in a blowout game to save other bullpen arms, only allowing one run on a sac fly.
The sixth saw pitching changes for both teams as Miami was finally able to knock Forbes out of the game for righty Brennyn Cutts, but failed to capitalize on him through his appearance. Senior Jackson Cleveland came in to replace Dorn which further strengthened the pattern from the Southern Miss game last Sunday, effectively working through the UL lineup for two innings.
With both teams seeming content with turning the page to tomorrow, the pair coasted through the remaining innings as the score remained 8-1 through nine.
Louisville now sits one win away from going to Omaha as Miami needs to bounce back and win two in a row to make their Omaha return.
Even with the lopsided loss, there were some bright spots for the Hurricanes. If Ciscar was able to make the routine play, the third inning would’ve been over right then and there, erasing five of Louisville’s runs. Moreover, on the offensive side the ’Canes left 12 runners on base with only six hits on the day with Max Galvin accounting for three of them. And while it’s all what-ifs, the scoreline could’ve easily been flipped the other way.
With the best of three format of the super regionals, thankfully Miami will get an opportunity to right those wrongs tomorrow at 11:00 a.m ET as they look to keep their season alive.
