The baseball team was swept by Florida in a three-game series at home for the first time since 2002 against Florida State.
UM had 12 more hits but was outscored by Florida 17-12 in the series.
“We outplayed them,” said Gus Menendez. “We just need to cut down on our mental mistakes.”
Miami lost Friday’s game 2-1. Bryan Ball allowed one run in seven innings for Florida, while Carlos Gutierrez countered with two runs in 6.1 innings.
“Carlos did a great job,” said Miami third basemen Danny Valencia. “He kept us in the game the whole time. He deserved to win.”
The Hurricanes had a chance to tie in the bottom of the ninth. With one out, Valencia walked and Tommy Giles singled him over to third. Florida’s closer Darren O’Day entered for Florida and UM Head Coach Jim Morris sent Roger Tomas to pinch hit for Dennis Raben.
Tomas grounded the ball to the second baseman Brandon McArthur. Giles ran out of the baseline and was called out. McArthur then threw to first to complete the double play.
“You shouldn’t be running into that play; you have got to stop,” Morris said.
If Giles had not ran out of the baseline, Florida would have only recorded one out at second and Tomas would have been safe at first.
In Saturday’s game, Miami trailed after a Walter Diaz error in the second inning, leading to a run- scoring single by Adam Davis for Florida. Yonder Alonso tied the game in the fourth on a double to deep right that scored Jon Jay. The game remained tied until the eighth inning, when Matt LaPorta hit a solo homerun to put Florida ahead 2-1.
UF scored two more runs in the ninth inning and went on to win game two 4-1.
“Great pitching, great coaching; they just outplayed us,” Alonso said.
Manny Miguelez pitched a career high eight innings and allowed one earned run, setting a career high with seven strikeouts.
The series finale, a slugfest, resulted in an 11-10 Miami loss. Red-shirt sophomore Scott Maine made his first start since high school. Maine did not have control of his pitches and could not complete the second inning, putting Miami in a 6-0 hole.
“His mechanics were good, but he was just all over the place,” Morris said.
Ricky Orta was able to hold Florida at bay, allowing Miami to come back and take a 7-6 lead. The rally was highlighted by a three-run fifth inning. Menendez tied the game on a two-run double and Eddy Rodriguez followed with a double of his own.
Florida quickly regained a 10-7 lead with a four-run sixth inning.
“We need to learn from our mistakes,” Jay said. “We’ve still got 40 games to go and Omaha isn’t until June.”
Denis Brown can be contacted at dbrown@umsis.miami.edu.