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Miami starter Chris Diaz brutalized Boston College bats, the Hurricanes scored twice in the second and sixth innings as the Eagles baseball team lost, 6-2, in its ACC opener yesterday in Coral Gables. The loss dropped BC under .500 for the first time this year at 6-7, while Miami improved to 8-5.
Miami jumped on starting pitcher John Gorman with a hit in the first, then scored two runs in the second on two hits. Willie Abreu singled to the right side and was sacrificed on a bunt over to second. Gorman threatened to get out of the inning by striking out Zack Collins, but Gorman walked Garrett Kennedy and surrendered a triple to Brandon Lopez that brought both runners home.
The Birdballers were able to get one back in the top of the third, responding with an RBI from Gabriel Hernandez. Tom Bourdon doubled to lead off the inning, advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt by Nick Sciortino. Hernandez then singled him in to make the score 2-1. Hernandez was later thrown out trying to steal second, but the inning continued when Blake Butera reached first on a third strike wild pitch. But Joe Cronin couldn't keep the rally alive, grounding out to second to end the threat.
BC didn't score again until the score was 5-1 in the seventh. The Canes got one in the fourth when Kennedy doubled to right field to score Collins, and they got two in the sixth with two out. In that inning, Gorman retired two of the first three batters before getting lifted for Jesse Adams. Adams ran into some trouble by walking two batters, and the runners moved over on wild pitches. Lopez then singled them both in.
The Eagles scored one in the top of the seventh when Johnny Adams singled to right and advanced to second when Tom Bourdon grounded into a fielder's choice. Sciortino grounded him over to third with an infield single, and Hernandez ripped one back to the box that the pitcher Diaz couldn't catch. But Miami scored again in the bottom of the seventh to put them back up by four and end the Eagle rally threat.
Gorman absorbed the loss for BC to drop his season record to 2-2. He was tagged for four runs across five and two-thirds innings pitched, but he struck out six and walked just one. Jesse Adams failed to record an out in his appearance, but he was only charged with one run on one hit. He was relieved by Eric Stevens, who went an inning and a third in relief. Steve Green pitched the eighth for the Eagles. Miami registered 10 hits total and left just six men on base in making the most of their opportunities.
Diaz, meanwhile, improved to 4-0 for the Canes. He allowed two runs on five hits across seven innings of appearance. He struck out seven and only walked one in an otherwise dominant appearance. AJ Salcines allowed nothing across the eighth, and Adam Sargent pitched a perfect ninth to shut down BC and improve Miami to 1-0 in ACC play. Miami pitchers also ended the hitting streaks of both Chris Shaw and Logan Hoggarth, who went a combined 0-for-7 in the game. BC only stranded five men on base, but they only mustered five hits.
The teams are back at it from Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field at 7 PM on Saturday for the second of their three game series.
Below is the link to Mike Gambino's postgame remarks:
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Gambino After Friday's Miami Loss (via Bird Ball)