Exhale. They don’t come any closer than that.
The Miami Hurricanes survived a panic-inducing final few seconds to defeat Alabama 5-3 in the teams’ Hattiesburg regional opener on Friday afternoon.
AJ Cisnar picked up the win for Miami, allowing 3 runs over 7 innings with with 8 strikeouts. Daniel Cuvet led Miami at the plate, going 2-4 with a home run, a double, and 3 RBIs.
It was Cuvet who got Miami started early, clubbing a 3-run homer to right center for a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. The Canes extended it to 4-0 in the third on a Renzo Gonzalez single to plate Cuvet.
Alabama cut the lead to 4-3 with a two-out, two-run single to left in the fourth inning, but Miami quickly pushed the margin to 5-3 when Max Galvin led off the fifth with a home run.
Things would stay even there until the bottom of the ninth, and that’s when the Canes found themselves in a tight spot. Brian Walters got Alabama down to their final out with no one on, then the next Bama hitter fought off a 13-pitch at bat, which ended when Gonazlez couldn’t quite reel in a grounder. Then, the next hitter walked and brought the winning run up to the plate. I’ll let you watch yourself.
Walters SLAMS the door and Miami advances
Alabama was inches from a walk off 3 run bomb pic.twitter.com/8PMqVS2ef8
— 11Point7 College Baseball (@11point7) May 30, 2025
I thought it was gone off the bat, but fortunately, the ballpark held it by a couple of feet, and that’s all that matters.
Miami is now on to the winner’s bracket on Saturday, where they’ll face the winner of Columbia-Southern Miss.