Canes split pair of midweek games

BRINGING THE HEAT: Hurricane San Robinson pitches last night at the baseball game against Mount St. Mary's. STEVEN STUTS // HURRICANE STAFF

BRINGING THE HEAT: Hurricane San Robinson pitches last night at the baseball game against Mount St. Mary's.  STEVEN STUTS // HURRICANE STAFF

BRINGING THE HEAT: Hurricane San Robinson pitches last night at the baseball game against Mount St. Mary's. STEVEN STUTS // HURRICANE STAFF

After getting blanked by the Rhode Island Rams the night before, No. 10 Miami looked to be in the same funk through 2.5 innings against Mount St. Mary’s at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field on Wednesday.

Down 3-0 heading into the bottom of the third, the Hurricanes (7-2) pulled off 14 unanswered runs and scored in five consecutive innings for a 14-3 victory against the Mountaineers (0-5).

“I called them together [and told them] we’ve got to play better,” head coach Jim Morris said. “Luckily it reminded me of the weekend before when we had Rutgers here. I thought after the third inning we played really well.”

Preseason All-American Ryan Jackson went 2 for 3 with an RBI and two runs, while freshman Harold Martinez reached base and scored four times and drove in three.

“Last night we came out kind of flat offensively as a whole,” Jackson said. “Any time you get down early you want to come back quick. You don’t want to let it roll over so it was good to see us bounce back like that.”

Junior right-hander Michael Rudman (1-0) earned his first career win in two scoreless innings of relief for starter Kevin Youst. Five relievers combined for six shutout innings of two-hit ball.

Over the last five games, the bullpen has an ERA of 0.43.

“I’m pretty excited. I felt good, I’ve been working hard and I’m confident,” Rudman said. “We trust the guys behind us and we’re just throwing strikes and getting guys out.”

Senior Ryan Perry started things off in the third with a walk, and starter Costa Kapothanasis (0-1) hit back-to-back batters. After a wild pitch scored Perry, junior Scott Lawson hit a sacrifice fly to center and Jackson did the same to tie the game at three apiece.

Freshman Nathan Melendres extended his hit streak to nine as he drove in the fifth run. Senior Dave DiNatale blasted his first home run of the season, a three-run shot in the sixth, and Martinez hit a two-run homer, the second of his collegiate career, in the seventh to make it 14-3.

“I was a lot more patient today and I just waited for my pitch,” Martinez said.

The Mount took an early 3-0 lead in the third thanks to three errors, including rare back-to-back mishaps by Jackson with no outs and a throwing error by catcher Jason Hagerty.

On Tuesday night, junior right-hander Eric Smith pitched eight plus innings and surrendered only three hits as Rhode Island (5-2) stunned the Canes 3-0.

At one point, Smith (1-0), who finished with five strikeouts and two walks, retired 15 consecutive hitters before issuing a two-out walk to sophomore Iden Nazario in the eighth.

Miami will host a three-game ACC weekend series starting at 7 p.m. Friday against N.C. State, who held a 6-2 record at press time and was locked in a 16-inning game against Akron.

“N.C. State’s a very good program with a bunch of blue-collar guys who play their butt off every time they go out there,” Morris said. “They’re well-coached, they don’t make many mistakes, they’ve got a veteran club ready to come in here.”