Hurricanes snap six-game losing streak by pounding FAU before road trip to No. 10 FSU
This time, the Miami Hurricanes got the lead and kept it.
The University of Miami snapped a six-game losing streak Tuesday by pounding the FAU Owls 14-6 at Mark Light Field.
It was UM’s first victory since defeating then-No. 3 and now-No. 2 Clemson on March 28, and came just in time to put the Canes (16-16, 6-9 Atlantic Coast Conference) in a far better mood heading to No. 10 Florida State (27-5) for a Thursday-throughSaturday series.
“I’ve said it many, many times, man, there’s no quit in this team — no matter what the score is, what the inning is, who we’re playing, what the conditions are,’’ said UM coach J.D. Arteaga. “I’d like to see us start cleaning up some of the little things. It’s OK to make a mistake, you just can’t make the same ones over and over.”
Right fielder Lucas Costello led Miami with a 3-run blast to left in the seventh and an RBI-double in the second.
Third baseman Daniel Cuvet added a two-run homer in the first inning and a double and single for 3 RBI.
The Canes smacked 19 hits Tuesday, 10 of them for extra bases. Their two homers ended a drought that followed Miami’s fabulous four-bagger start to the season.
Through the Canes’ first 16 games, they were eighth in the country with 36 homers. In the next 16 games, including Tuesday’s, they hit 13.
Miami hit eight doubles Tuesday, tied for fourth most in a game and first time it achieved the feat since April 18, 1998.
“It feels good to get back in the win column,’’ Cuvet said. ”We played well as a team. We just need to play good baseball to win and we can beat everybody.”
On Sunday, the Canes had a 7-1 lead in the eighth at then-No. 9 Duke and 10-7 lead in the 11th to ultimately lose 11-10 in the bottom of the 11th.
Two days earlier at Duke, Miami was up 2-0 but lost in a 4-3 walk-off.
Before Tuesday, the Owls (18-12, 6-4 American Athletic Conference) defeated the Canes in two previous games this season.
Asked if he thought snapping the winning streak could affect the Hurricanes going forward, Arteaga said that “every win is nice,’’ but “I don’t think it changes anything about this weekend coming up.
It’s still a big weekend against a very good Florida State team. I’m just glad those guys’ approaches haven’t changed and they’re showing up with a lot of energy and playing hard and fighting every pitch.
“It’s very easy not to do that when things aren’t going your way.”
UM left-handed redshirt freshman Ashton Crowther (1-4, 4.73), who missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery, got his first collegiate win. He allowed 1 run on three hits and three walks.
Right-handed FAU graduate senior Brandon Smith (2-2, 8.10) took the loss.
Sophomore Blake Cyr, who started the season as the Canes’ primary designated hitter before moving to left field, fractured the left thumb of his nonthrowing hand Friday sliding into second base at Duke.
He was scheduled for surgery on Wednesday.