Scoreless through four-and-a-half, hits few and far between and seemingly lifeless for much of the afternoon at TD Ameritrade Park, the Hurricanes—more-notably, Jacob Heyward—found enough ways to shine and Miami staved off elimination, topping Arkansas, 4-3 in round two of the College World Series.
On a day where David Thompson, Ricky Eusebio, George Iskenderian and Brandon Lopez were a combined 0-for-14, the guy in the number nine slot played the role of hero and the Hurricanes are still alive in Omaha.
Heyward was 3-for-3 on the day, drawing a third-inning walk in his first at bat and providing Miami a huge breakout moment in the bottom of the fifth.
Garrett Kennedy opened the inning with a single, Lopez popped up to right center and Arkansas swapped starter Keaton McKinney for Jackson Lowery, who immediately got Abreu to pop out to left.
Feeling a sense of urgency, Heyward wasted no time and crushed Lowery’s first offering over the left field fence, bringing in Kennedy and giving Miami a 2-0 lead.
Arkansas chipped away, but never led—tying things up in the top of the seventh, before Heyward went back to work in the bottom of the frame.
Abreu grounded out to start the inning, but Heyward hit a 3-2 pitch up the middle and immediately stole second. Eusebio smacked a 1-1 shot to short and reached on a fielder’s choice when Michael Bernal rushed a throw to third in attempt to nab Heyward.
The ball got by Bobby Wernes, Heyward rushed home and scored standing, giving the Canes the lead, 3-2. A batter later, Barr reached on a fielder’s choice and Eusebio was thrown out at home—ending the Canes’ seventh inning bid to add to the lead.
Danny Garcia entered and lasted four batters, giving up three consecutive singles, before forcing a pop up and yielding to Cooper Hammond, who threw one pitch that lead to an inning-ending double play.
Prior to Garcia, Miami pitching held Arkansas in check. Thomas Woodrey went 6.0 innings, allowing three hits and one run, while striking out seven. Michael Mediavilla came on for an inning, giving up two hits and a run while striking out one.
Hammond saw two batters in the ninth before Jim Morris went to the bullpen one final time, bringing in closer Bryan Garcia with one out and a runner on second.
Garcia forced Wernes to pop out to center and intentionally walked number three hitter Andrew Benintendi to set up a force-out situation that proved unnecessary as the clutch Rick Nomura—3-for-3 entering the ninth—grounded out to Iskenderian.
Before the Razorbacks knew what hit them, the Canes went bang-bang in the bottom of the inning and it was over. Abreu delivered a shot off the wall in right center, earning him a stand-up double.
Carl Chester came in to pinch run, with Heyward initially showing bunt to move the speedster to third and into scoring position.
Facing a 1-2 count after failing a bunt attempt off, Heyward was given the green light to swing away, roping a shot over Bernal into left center, bringing Chester home standing up and leaving the pro-Arkansas crowd shell-shocked.
In retrospect, there are countless ways to pick this one apart. Miami again started out lifeless and outside of Heyward, the Hurricanes only amassed four total hits—in Omaha, in an elimination game and coming off a putrid performance again in-state rival Florida.
In reality—and at this do-or-die point of the season—all that matters is getting the win and staying alive.
Who will pitch on Wednesday now that Morris used Garcia in the middle innings? Is Florida or Virginia the better two-game opponent later in the week if trying to reach the title game? Why is a team with seven-of-nine .300-plus hitters struggling so mightily at the plate? Does the win forgive Morris’ past coaching sins?
Honestly, none of that matters. Not here and not now. It’s all about survival from this point on; not overanalyzing, reinventing the wheel or nitpicking the process. Simply keep staying alive as nobody wants this to end.
The Hurricanes face another one-game season on Wednesday and have to prepare for the Cavaliers or Gators. Pass that test and it’s two more one-game seasons en route to a trip to the weekend and a two-of-three situation against an unseen foe from the other bracket.
Florida pounded Miami on Saturday night and as it goes in life, sometimes getting your ass handed to you can serve as a proper wake-up call.
The Hurricanes spent the day-and-a-half since in elimination-mode and for the first half of the afternoon against the Razorbacks, the nerves associated with being the first team sent home were on full display.
From there, slowly-by-slowly, little flashes of greatness began to rear their head. Kennedy’s single. Heyward’s home run, followed by a single, stolen base and eventual run an inning later.
Abreu’s double and Hayward’s walk-off single, with some clutch pitching in between—Hurricanes’ relievers stopping the bleeding, keeping Miami in the driver’s seat and never in that spirit-breaking position of trailing late.
It’s too soon to say that the Canes have turned a corner at the College World Series; but it takes a spark to start a fire and the Hurricanes woke up after Heyward got things rolling.
It wasn’t pretty or consistent, but it was effective in the sense that Miami lives to see another day—and with the late Monday night start in Omaha for Florida and Virginia, an interesting Wednesday night scenario awaits.
The Cavaliers and Gators are riding high after the weekend, but one will come crashing down—no longer in control and one loss away from their first taste at elimination-mode.
All that disappointment that plagued Miami since Saturday and nerves that carried over to Monday afternoon; Virginia or Florida will experience that for the first time in Omaha come Wednesday, while the Hurricanes dealt with those emotions when facing Arkansas.
Miami hung on late and earned a clutch win in exciting fashion; something that has to carry this team into its next showdown.
Heyward’s performance merely needs to serve as a reminder to a Zack Collins, a Thompson or a Lopez that everyone in the lineup is capable of similar feats.
Look no further than Abreu; 0-for-3 on the night before a clutch ninth-inning double—a .293 hitter with the “second worst” average in the line-up.
It doesn’t take much to reverse the curse and get hot—and based on a clutch bottom of the ninth performance, the Hurricanes could be due for a much-needed breakout party.