Well, that’s not how you start. We’ll now see how the Canes finish.
The Miami Hurricanes dropped the opener in their Super Regional at Louisville 8-1 in a game that was over quickly.
Miami got through a 1st inning that saw the Cardinals hit the ball hard off of Miami starter AJ Ciscar, but score no runs. Miami loaded the bases with one out in the second, but strikeout-strikeout ended that with no runs.
Then, Louisville deposited back-to-back home runs over the wall in the bottom of the second for a 2-0 lead. I said then on Twitter/X that J.D. Arteaga needed to go to the bullpen then and not when it was 5-0. That’s because, in addition to the home runs, the Cardinals had loud outs the rest of the inning. In other words, through two innings, Ciscar didn’t have it, and it was obvious.
Miami loaded the bases in the third and got a run home on a sacrifice fly to draw to 2-1. But then disaster struck. Ciscar loaded the bases with no out and then got a comebacker back to the mound for a tailor-made double play. Ciscar threw home to get it started, excepted he flew it wide of the catcher and to the backstop. Instead of being out of the inning, two runs scored and it was 4-1.
The very next pitch, Louisville cranked a 3-run home run. 7-1, and that was all she wrote. I don’t need to discuss the rest of the game.
It’s now all about Game Two. The good thing is that Griffin Hugus has been pitching well, so perhaps he can keep Miami in this enough to steal it and force a decisive Game Three. Miami will have to do far more at the plate for that to come to pass though. Fortunately, Saturday is a new day.
Go Canes!