Bullpen collapse at ACC Tournament ends Miami Hurricanes baseball season
CHARLOTTE — The Miami Hurricanes’ 2024 campaign came to an end Saturday evening.
Making their second straight ACC Baseball Championship semifinals appearance, the 11th-seeded Hurricanes fell to the sixth-seeded Duke Blue Devils, 8-2, in front of 5,879 fans at Truist Field.
The Blue Devils (38-18) scored eight unanswered runs across their final four trips to the plate, highlighted by a six-spot in the eighth.
Duke demolished a pair of two-run homers, including senior catcher Alex Stone’s go-ahead dinger.
Miami (27-30) held an early 2-0 lead, but the Hurricanes ran out of gas playing with a shorthanded bullpen.
In the defeat, third baseman Daniel Cuvet set the new Miami freshman home run record with his 24th blast of the year. Cuvet’s two-run shot in the fourth pushed the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native passed Pat Burrell, breaking the 28-year mark.
Junior starter Herick Hernandez turned in five strong innings, holding the Blue Devils hitless through the first four frames. Hernandez struck out nine of the first 12 batters he faced before the Blue Devils plated a tally in the fifth.
Duke veteran righty Charlie Beilenson (7-3) picked up the win in relief, tossing 2 1/3 scoreless innings.
Miami freshman right-hander Nick Robert (5-4) was charged with the loss.
Duke, which didn’t pick up its first base hit until the bottom of the fifth inning, was led offensively by two base hits from Devon Obee, including a monster home run over the video board in left-center field. Both Obee and Alex Stone homered and drove in two RBI, while Zac Morris, Ben Miller and pinch-hitter Jimmy Evans each drove in one run in the win.
Miami starting pitcher Herick Hernandez held the Blue Devils hitless over the first four innings. He allowed just one hit, walked five and struck out nine batters over 5.0 innings in the no-decision.
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Following a one-hour and 21-minute delay to the start of the contest due to lightning concerns, both teams struggled out of the gates offensively, as neither team had a base hit until the fourth inning.
The first base hit was a big one, as Cuvet launched a two-run home run to right field to put the Hurricanes on top 2-0 midway through the fourth inning.
Duke picked up its first hit in the bottom of the fifth inning and took advantage of three free passes, including a bases-loaded walk to Morris to get on the scoreboard and cut the Miami lead to one at 2-1.
The Blue Devils struck again in the bottom of the seventh inning and tied the game up at 2-2 on a pinch-hit sacrifice fly from Evans.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Blue Devils blew the game wide open with a six spot to take an 8-2 lead, highlighted by a pair of two-run home runs from Stone and Obee to propel Duke to the win.
