Miami Baseball Season Ends With Another Dramatic Collapse Against Troy
Last season, the Miami Hurricanes found a way to rally and battle all the way to an out away from Super Regionals, bringing juice into a program that has been lying dormant for years.
This season, the talent was better, the offense was stronger, but the last two games of the Hurricanes' season witnessed a microcosm of what has been the Achilles heel all season: a bullpen that can't hold a lead and a defense that struggles throughout games.
It started in the first inning for Miami, battling against Troy in an elimination game of the Gainesville Regional. Second baseman Jake Ogden would get a lead-off single but would quickly get picked off thanks to a questionable base runner from the fan favorite.
Moreover, starter Larazo Collera would give up a homerun that would push the Canes on edge. Quickly, the Hurricanes were down 2-0 before a fourth-inning spark would put them up 4-2, starting with some timely home runs from Alex Sosa and Max Galvin.
Miami would follow and put up two more runs, giving the Canes a 6-3 lead going into the bottom of the sixth. However, if anyone has paid attention to this team all season, a disaster was bound to happen, and it came from AJ Ciscar.
After a lackluster two-thirds inning before getting pulled against Florida, the Canes' sophomore would get a chance again against the Trojans and get charged with four earned runs after loading the bases and giving up a home run.
It wouldn't help that it would also come with some defensive struggle that might not get noticed on the scorecard that the Canes have come accustomed to.
Miami would lose the lead, and the bullpen would come in with Jake Dorn, who would give up the lead while Miami struggled to find any more offense. Dorn would slip off the mound from a pitch, nearly throw a ball in the stands, before he gave up a home run and more runs to the Trojans, before he was pulled.
After Frank Menedez was thrown into the game, signaling the white flag, even if it doesn't feel that way from the coaching staff and players. Menedez entered the game with an ERA over 19, and finished his season with it at 18.56. Troy would score three more runs, pushing the lead to 9-6 in the bottom of the 8th inning, allowing the Canes to ground out for the final out of the season from their star outfielder Derek Williams.
Miami's season ends in disappointing fashion after having realistic Omaha hopes to start the season. The one proud blue-blood has some soul-searching to do this offseason, starting with their roster, NIL, and coaching.
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Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University earning a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Communications with a concentration in Print and Digital Journalism. During his time in Starkville, he spent a year as an intern working for Mississippi State On SI primarily covering basketball, football, baseball, and soccer while writing, recording, and creating multimedia stories during his tenor. Since graduating, he has assumed the role of lead staff writer for Miami Hurricanes On SI covering football, basketball, baseball, and all things Hurricanes related.
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