Miami baseball splits doubleheader in 1st two games of series at Pittsburgh

Miami and Pittsburgh split a doubleheader on Friday. With rain forecasted throughout the day on Saturday in Pittsburgh, the second game of the three-game weekend series was moved up. Miami was 9-4 in the opener and lost game two 7-2.

A Tanner Smith grand slam put Miami in front 4-1 in the second inning and Griffin Hugus had another outstanding start in the series opener. Smith finished with three hits in five at-bats, two runs scored and five runs batted in to pace Miami offensively.

Hugus pitched 6.2 innings, allowing three runs, two earned, on seven hits with a walk and seven strikeouts. After Pittsburgh scored two runs in the seventh inning to cut their deficit to one run, Miami answered with three in the eighth and two in the ninth. Pittsburgh scored one in the ninth, but their comeback attempt fell five runs short.

Miami scored on a wild pitched follwed by infield hits by Smith and shortstop Jake Ogden to drive in runs in the eighth inning and followed by a pair of bases loaded walks in the ninth to take a six run lead. Pittsburgh leadoff hitter Jake Cantwell had three hits in five at-bats with a run scored and three RBIs in the opener.

Pittsburgh starter Patrick Gardner dropped to 4-4 with the loss. The Panthers scored two in the first inning and five in the sixth to take a 7-0 lead over Miami in the second game. Two Miami errors and five walks and five hit batters led to the Pittsburgh runs despite only four hits. Pittsburgh scored its first two runs on a pair of fielders' choices.

A sacrifice fly and a wild pitch plated the first two runs for Pittsburgh in the sixth inning as the Panthers scored their first four runs without a hit, driving them in. A.J. Nessler had a two-RBI single, followed by Sebastian Pisacreta driving in one run with a single to put Pittsburgh up 7-0 after six innings.

Gaby Gutierrez hit a two-run home run for Miami in the top of the eighth to prevent the shutout for Miami.AJ Ciscar took the loss for Miami. Ciscar pitched five innings, allowing two hits, four runs, three earned, with a walk, four hit batters and seven strikeouts.

Ryan Reed pitched 7.0 innings, allowing three hits and no runs with a walk and five strikeouts for Pittsburgh. Miami and Pittsburgh will be off on Saturday, with game three scheduled for Sunday at 1 PM Eastern Time. Miami returns home to host Bethune-Cookman on Wednesday and Duke next weekend.