Behind a five run scoring output in the bottom of the sixth inning Sunday afternoon, the Hurricanes completed the series sweep of the Towson Tigers with a 9-3 win.
For the second day in a row, Miami got off to a hot start. After left fielder Jordan Lala was hit by a pitch on the opening at-bat and stole second base, second baseman Anthony Vilar and catcher Adrian Del Castillo recorded back to back RBI singles that gave Miami an early 2-0 lead.
“I thought overall swinging the bats good. All in all, just a good solid performance,” DiMare said.
Miami went up 3-0 in the bottom of the third when Alex Toral singled up the right field line allowed third baseman Raymond Gil to score.
It wasn’t until the fifth inning that Towson recorded a hit. Trent Gast-Woddard scored on a throwing error by Toral before Colin Conroy hit a double of starting pitcher Slade Cecconi that allowed Austin to score the second run for the Tigers. An RBI single from Javon Fields scored the Tigers third and final run of the game.
“He probably wasn’t at his best command wise,” DiMare said on Cecconi.
On Conroy’s double in the fifth inning, Cecconi appeared to be hit in the face with the ball straight off Conroy’s bat and the pitcher went down on the mound, where he laid motionless for several moments before getting back up.
Cecconi was pulled from the game after. The sophomore finished with three hits, two earned runs, three balls and eight strikes through 4.1 innings.
Utility player JP Gates came in after Cecconi and gave up one run. Gates was replaced by freshman Jake Garland, who was credited with the win, the first of his career as a Hurricane.
With a score tied at 3-3, Miami’s offense went on a tear in the bottom of the sixth inning and scored five runs. After Towson walked in Del Castillo, Luis Tuero and Vilar recorded two run RBI’s that gave Miami a 8-3 lead. An RBI hit by Tyler Paige in the bottom of the seventh allowed Miami to score its ninth run of the game.
Vilar, who accounted for three of Miami’s runs, had another strong outing at the plate and recorded two hits in five at bats. Vilar also had three RBI’s Saturday night.
“I feel good, especially in those two at-bats,” Vilar said. “I didn’t feel as good in the other three at-bats. I feel like they are wasted, but the two that I got hits, I felt good at the plate there.”
DiMare lauded his team’s bullpen after the final three pitchers, freshman Carson Palmquist, senior Tyler Keysor and junior Daniel Federman, did not give up any runs.
“The bullpen did a very good job,” DiMare said. “Carson came in with bases loaded and nobody out, to be able to get out of that with no damage at all. We were just trying to minimize, a run would be fine, but we got out of there with no runs, which was excellent.”
The Hurricanes, now 8-3, will play in their first road game of the season this Wednesday, March 4 at FAU.