Miami secures 14-6 victory in comeback win against Florida

Freshman Blake Cyr throws up "the U" after hitting a three-run homer in Miami's game against Florida on March 4 in Gainesville. Photo credit: Anna Carrington (Miami Athletics)

Since a 10-4 loss to Florida on Friday night, where head coach Gino DiMare said his team “didn’t have an answer for [the Gators’] offense,” the Hurricanes have done a 180-degree turn.

On Saturday evening, the 22nd-ranked Miami Hurricanes baseball team met up with the 6th-ranked Florida Gators for the second of their three-game weekend series, rallying for a 14-6 victory in Gainesville.

After a nearly three-hour delay to start the game, it was not long before the ‘Canes found themselves down 6-1 in the sixth inning.

However, after Florida’s Jac Caglianone cracked a two-run homer to extend the lead to five, the ‘Canes tallied 13 unanswered runs in the last four innings for a decisive team win.

But it was rookie Blake Cyr who was the star of the show.

Cyr punched his own two-run homer in the sixth, notched RBIs in the final three innings and capped the explosive night with a three-run bomb in the ninth, giving Miami an eight-run lead. He threw up the U on his trip around the bases.

“He’s growing up fast in this atmosphere,” DiMare said. “His eyes were open pretty wide last night, so it was good to see him have a big night for us.”

Cyr had his own thoughts on his performance.

“A lot of emotions were running through my mind,” Cyr said. “We’ve been doing this all year. We’re a team when we get punched in the mouth, we come right back and keep going.”

This underdog mentality echoed not only through the batting but the pitching as well.

It was left-handed freshman Chris Scinta (1-0) who gained his first collegiate win after locking down Florida for a scoreless seventh. Then junior Andrew Walters (1-0) stopped the Gators in the eighth and ninth, picking up four strikeouts.

“I’m proud of them,” DiMare said. “The guys stayed with it. They kept battling. At the end of the day, there are 27 outs. We got to their starter a little bit at the end and got to their bullpen in a big way.”

It was certainly a momentum-shifting victory for Miami; however, all hands remain on deck Sunday as the Canes (8-3) look to take the series against UF (9-3) in Gainesville. First pitch is at noon.