Miami loses to the California Golden Bears in the opening game, 9-2, and loses its star pitcher, Rob Evans, to an injury

Black Friday for the Miami Hurricanes, not only dropping the opening game to the pitcher who eliminated the Canes in the opening game of last year’s ACC Tournament, but more importantly, a season-ending injury to our No. 1 starting pitcher. The Miami hitters were powerless against starting pitcher Oliver DelaTorres, who hogtied our batters through 8 innings, allowing just two runs on five hits. More importantly, Miami quite possibly lost any chance to go deep into the postseason, losing Rob Evans for the season after an injury sustained in the third inning, when he had to be assisted off the field. The initial report was a leg injury, either to his left knee or foot. Either way, it ends a promising season for our star pitcher.

The lineup was unchanged from Wednesday’s game against FAU, with Gabiel Milano replacing Daniel Cuvet at third base due to reported back issues. Cuvet was not on tonight’s roster after undergoing a dental procedure to remove all his wisdom teeth. He was expected to sit out this series, but tonight’s developments leave that uncertain.

Things started turning black for Miami in the first inning on the second play of the game. What should have been a routine 6-3 groundout for the second out of the inning became an E3 when West dropped the ball. Errors for the Canes usually result in runs, and this was no exception. The next batter scorched a two-run homer to deep left, giving the Golden Bears a 2-0 early lead. A strikeout followed, which would have ended the inning, barring the earlier error. Lawson Olmstead followed his teammate, driving the ball even deeper to left, ending their half of the first with a 3-0 lead rather than 1-0 due to what we do best defensively: commit errors.

Trailing 3-0, Miami responded in the bottom half with a leadoff double by Jake Ogden, followed by Max Galvin reaching first on an E5, advancing Jake to third. Derek Williams hit a SF to center. Both runners tagged. Jake scored, but Max was thrown out 8-4, completing the DP. Miami picked up a run but still trailed 3-1.

Cal comes back in the second inning with a run of their own, which I attribute to Gabriel’s lack of experience with playing time. Cal begins with a single, and Rob is called for a balk, moving the runner to second. A grounder to Gabriel had the runner nailed from second, who was halfway to third, but instead of getting the lead runner out and risking losing the batter, he chose to go to first. In the worst case, the batter would have ended at second due to the rundown from the lead runner, but instead, Cal has a runner on third with one out. Cal then follows with a 4-3 groundout, scoring the runner from third. Inexperience led to another run that shouldn’t have occurred. The score should be 1-1, not 4-1.

The third inning will be remembered by fans and players as the BLACKEST of the season, as the team lost its star pitcher. A slow grounder to the right of Rob prompted him to leave the mound to retrieve it. In the process, he fell and was in excruciating pain. The out was recorded 6-3, but more importantly, it was the season-ending out for Miami’s hopes of a deep postseason without its best pitcher. Frank Menendez is struggling to find his rhythm, and we are still awaiting Nick Robert’s return, who will likely face similar issues. We can only hope both will be ready for the Tournament or regionals if we make it that far.

Replacing Rob was likely a poor decision, as Tate DeRias was brought in—an option who has struggled throughout the season and was believed to be permanently sidelined. JD selected Tate because he was once our starter but lost the role due to control issues. He recorded the inning’s final out with a strikeout after a lengthy at-bat.

Miami closes the margin to 4-2 in the bottom of the third after a lead-off strikeout by Fabio, with two straight singles followed by an RBI single by Derek Williams.

Miami’s offense, which has struggled in recent games, was completely shut down over the next four innings, managing only a single in the 8th and a walk in the 9th. Despite Miami remaining scoreless and unable to overcome DelaTorre’s pitching, the Golden Bears continued to pressure the Miami bullpen. Tate, after completing the third inning with a strikeout, returned in the 4th and walked the first three batters to load the bases. Seeing enough, JD started the rotation from the bullpen as the Golden Bear hitters began to find their rhythm. They scored a run in the 4th on a bases-loaded walk, and added another in the 6th with a two-run homer following a leadoff double. In the 7th, back-to-back home runs, their fourth and fifth of the night, extended their lead to 9-2, securing the first game of the series.

Miami’s offense struggled tonight, finishing with a .161 batting average. Aside from Jake Ogden’s 3-for-4 performance, including a double, they couldn’t overcome Oliver DelaTorre’s dominance on the mound, as he shut them down for eight innings. Max Galvin and Derek Williams were the only other players to get a hit. Miami went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. It was a challenging day for both fans and players.

Miami’s pitching is struggling significantly, having lost its Friday starter with no immediate replacement. The bullpen remains unreliable. JD considered that Tate might still have something left from his early days, but it became clear he didn’t. We await Robert’s return, though expecting immediate results is unrealistic, as we’ve seen with Menendez. Someone will need to step up, or this season could be a lost cause.

Miami is relying on Lazaro Collera to even the series tomorrow night, and on AJ Ciscar on Sunday to lead us to victory and secure the series win. The first pitch is scheduled for 6 PM tomorrow.