With its 4-1 win over Clemson, Miami has secured its third road victory of 2022, and is a series finale triumph away from clinching only its second sweep of the season.
“That’s a big win for us,” UM head coach Gino DiMare said in a Miami Athletics release. “Of all the games we’ve played so far that was probably the most tough and gritty. Having to battle late in the game, that’s what you want. We’re going to have to play a lot of games like that.”
The Canes jumped out to a 1-0 advantage thanks to a Jacob Burke solo home run to deep left field in the top of the second. Clemson answered in the bottom of the fourth, scoring on a throwing error to tie the contest at one apiece. This would be the Tigers’ first and last run of the game.
Burke scored on a wild pitch in the sixth, and a Maxwell Romero Jr. single down the infield line extended Miami’s lead to three in the seventh.
“He threw me a slider and I fouled it off early in the at-bat,” Romero Jr. said. “After that, it was a two-strike approach. I saw it and poked it the other way and did what I could to help this team.”
Freshman Karson Ligon delivered a strong performance, pitching 5.1 innings and only allowing three hits and one run. The Sarasota, Florida native did not give up an earned run and struck out three batters in his third win of the season.
Gage Ziehl, a highly touted freshman, relieved Ligon, surrendering only one hit and no earned runs in 1.2 innings pitched, highlighted by a 10-pitch battle with Clemson left fielder J.D. Brock that ended in a strikeout.
“That last batter was fighting a lot of pitches,” Ziehl said. “I finally got one and he swung and missed. It fired me up and I wanted the team to get some energy. That next half inning, we scored some more runs and I went out there with a three-run lead. The rest is history.”
UM will face off against Clemson in the series finale on Sunday, with the first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.