Troy defeated Miami baseball, 8-6 Sunday in a Gainesville Regional elimination game at Condron Family Ballpark, ending the Hurricanes’ season after they carried a 6-2 lead into the bottom of the fifth. The Hurricanes finished with 10 hits, while Troy finished with 14 hits and four home runs.
Miami built its lead with the type of swing-for-swing offense that carried them through stretches of the season. Alex Sosa tied the game with a two-run homer in the fourth after the Hurricanes fell behind early. Gabriel Milano followed later in the inning with a two-run single that pushed Miami ahead 4-2. Max Galvin added a solo homer in the fifth, and Sosa doubled home Derek Williams to give the Canes a four-run cushion.
Troy’s comeback started with one run in the fifth, then it hammered Miami’s bullpen for three runs in the sixth. Jabe Boroff homered to cut the deficit to 6-4. A wild pitch brought home Houston Markham, and Jimmy Janicki’s sacrifice fly tied the game. One inning later, Boroff homered again, and Markham followed with another blast to give Troy an 8-6 lead Miami never answered.
The Canes had already taken the first game against Troy, 10-5, and moved into the winner’s bracket before Florida crushed them 22-10 Saturday night. Miami entered Sunday with a second chance to reset the regional and earn another shot at the Gators. Instead, the same issues that showed up against Florida — missed execution and shaky run prevention — ended the season.
This ending will frustrate Miami fans because the path looked manageable after the opener. The Hurricanes had the bats and they had postseason experience. They had a 6-2 lead against a team they had already beaten, but NCAA regionals punish teams that cannot finish innings. Troy made Miami pay.
J.D. Arteaga’s team gave the program another NCAA Tournament appearance, the 51st in school history, and pushed through an ACC schedule with enough high-end wins to reach the postseason. But the standard at Miami never centers on simply reaching a regional. The Hurricanes expect to survive weekends like this one.
Instead, Miami left Gainesville with back-to-back losses and an offseason full of questions.
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