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CORAL GABLES, Fla. 5-8-26 – The Miami Hurricanes (34-15, 14-12 ACC) fell in extra innings to the Louisville Cardinals Friday night by a final score of 16-9. After Miami rallied to tie the game at seven in the bottom of the ninth, Louisville exploded for a nine-run eleventh inning, giving enough cushion to force the Saturday rubber match.
Louisville’s Aaron England (3-2) earned the win for Louisville after tossing three innings in relief, allowing one run on four hits while striking out one. Miami’s Ryan Bilka (2-1) was charged with the loss for Miami after surrendering the go-ahead run in the 10th inning.
Miami found life in the bottom of the second inning as Alex Sosa worked a walk to get aboard. Following a strikeout, freshman Alonzo Alvarez launched his 11th double of the season, and Vance Sheahan delivered a line drive single to bring home both runners, giving Miami a 2-0 lead.
But the Cardinals responded in the top of the fourth with a four-run frame. Zion Rose reached to begin the inning on a throwing error and quickly moved into scoring position with a stolen base before Griffin Crain walked.
With two aboard, Tague Davis delivered the decisive swing of the inning, launching a towering 401-foot three-run homer over the wall in left-center field, putting the Cardinals in front, 3-2.
]Jimmy Nugent added to the momentum with a solo shot to deep left field, extending Louisville’s advantage to 4-2. Miami starter Lazaro Collera settled back in to record consecutive strikeouts and a groundout to end the frame, but damage from the opposition had already been done.
With Miami held scoreless in the bottom half of the inning, Louisville added another off a Griffin Crain RBI to push the advantage to 5-2.
The Hurricanes’ bats were reignited in the bottom of the fifth with a four-run frame to reclaim the lead. Jake Ogden sparked the rally with a leadoff single before Max Galvin drew a walk to bring two aboard with nobody out.
Derek Williams then ripped an RBI double into left field to score Ogden and move Galvin to third, trimming the deficit to two. Two batters later, Alex Sosa delivered the big swing of the inning, launching a 400-foot three-run homer to deep center field to send Mark Light Field into a frenzy and put the Hurricanes back in front, 6-5.
Miami was able to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth with the help of a different kind of move on the bases. After Sosa punched a one-out single through the right side, Jailen Watkins laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the tying run into scoring position.
With two outs, the Hurricanes turned to right-handed pitcher Tate DeRias as a pinch runner for Sosa at second base, a rare sight in, really, any kind of ballgame. The move paid off as Alvarez lined a single into shallow left field, allowing DeRias to race home and tie the game at six.
Louisville exploded for nine runs in the top of the 11th inning, using a barrage of timely hits to pull away. Zion Rose opened the scoring with a two-run double before Griffin Crain lifted a sacrifice fly to center. Tague Davis continued his night with a two-run homer to deep center, his second home run of the game. Later in the inning, Lucas Moore ripped a two-run single into left field and Alex Alicea added a two-run base hit to make the score 16-7.
The Hurricanes found two runs in the bottom of the inning off an RBI triple from Jailen Watkins, who then scored on a wild pitch, but the damage was already done by the Louisville offensive attack.
Miami and Louisville will play a decisive series finale Saturday at Mark Light Field, with first pitch slated for 2 p.m. The final regular season home game for the Hurricanes will be broadcast like on ACCNX and WVUM 90.5 FM
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