Hurricanes open with a thud
Opening Day went great for just one Hurricane on Friday night — Rob Cooper, the Penn State coach.
Visiting Penn State, which had a losing record last season, upset the 22nd-ranked Miami Hurricanes, 9-5.
Cooper was a backup player and a graduate assistant coach for the Hurricanes in the 1990s, and he also earned his Master’s degree from the University of Miami.
“That’s my home,” Cooper said.
But prior to Friday, Cooper had gone 0-6 against Miami — all as a coach at Wright State.
Friday also marked Miami’s first home loss on Opening Day since before the Obama Administration — Mercer beat the Hurricanes, 6-5, in 2007.
Miami’s early highlight on Friday was a third-inning solo homer by nine-hole hitter Dominic Pitelli. That homer traveled 377 feet.
The Hurricanes also got a seventh-inning solo homer from Zach Levenson (410 feet).
But Gage Ziehl, who led Miami last year with 30 appearances, made his first collegiate start — and it did not go well.
Ziehl (0-1) got an out on his first pitch, but he lasted just two-plus innings, allowing nine hits, one walk and five runs.
Miami also had issues with the middle of its lineup, including projected first-round pick Yohandy Morales. Combined, the 2-through-5 hitters — Edgardo Villegas, CJ Kayfus, Morales and Ian Farrow — went 0 for 12 before an eighth-inning explosion.
In the eighth, Kayfus singled, Morales had an RBI double, and Farrow slugged a two-run homer to cut Miami’s deficit to 9-5. Farrow’s homer traveled 425 feet, the longest shot of the night.
But it wasn’t enough.
Aside from the loss, Miami also suffered an injury as starting catcher Carlos Perez was hit by a pitch on his left hand.
Travis Luensmann earned the win, allowing just two hits,
two walks and one run in five innings. It was his second Opening Day start and his first win.
Penn State opened the scoring in the second as the first two Nittany Lions batters, Johnny Placentino and Anthony Steele, singled, and Tayven Kelley drew a one-out walk to load the bases.
Jay Harry, who is Penn State’s best player, cleared the bases with a double to right-center. Thomas Bramley added an RBI double for a 4-0 lead.
Penn State’s leftyswinging Kyle Hannon led off the third with an opposite-field homer, and, after the next two batters singled, that was it for Ziehl.
Miami got on the board in the bottom of the third as Pitelli homered on Opening Day for the second straight year.
But Penn State got that back in the fifth, extending its lead to 6-1 on Kelley’s solo homer off reliever Ben Chestnutt.
Levenson’s homer’s homer cut Miami’s deficit to 6-2 in a seventh inning that also featured an odd plate appearance by Dorian Gonzalez Jr. against reliever Jordan Morales.
First, a wild throw that caused Gonzalez to duck hit his bat for an apparent groundout.
But the ball hit his back after it struck his bat, and it was ruled a foul ball despite a long argument by Cooper.
Then, a Gonzalez foul pop was dropped by catcher Josh Spiegel after
he tripped over first baseman Steele. Spiegel was charged with a tough error on the play.
That plate appearance finally ended when a Morales pitch struck Gonzalez’s batting helmet. Gonzalez remained in the game.
Penn State broke the game with three runs in the eighth, and the win was extra sweet for Cooper, who grew up in California as a Hurricanes fan.
“In the mid 1980s, I’m in high school, and I’m watching ESPN, and I see the Canes win the College World Series in 1985,” Cooper said. “I always wanted to be a Miami Hurricane.”
Cooper got the nextbest thing on Friday — his first win over the Canes.