Griffin Hugus's Complete Game Sends Miami to First Regional Final Since 2019

The offense continued to roar. Dorian Gonzalez Jr. found himself in a great situation tonight against the Lions. He finished the game 3-4 at the plate with eight runs batted in, highlighted by a monster swing in the fourth and in the seventh.

In the fourth he sends a ball out to deep right field for his ninth home run of year to bring in three runs but he wanted more.

He followed that up with another massive at-bat. The Lions walked Cuvet in a shocking move, but that didn't faze the senior; it only lit a fire. He smashed a grand slam to shut the door on the Lions, who barely had their tail in the door.

"It definitely lights a fire under me [when asked about Cuvet getting walked before him], but, you know, at the same time, I have to go up there with my same approach and stay calm and stay, compose and stick to the game plan," Gonzalez Jr. said.

Even with the massive offensive might, the Hurricanes' ace was game. Griffin Hugus allowed a lot of hits but only gave up one run (a fourth inning homer) the whole game. Hugus struggled early on but found his groove after giving up the homer. 

"Coach JD, along with our other coaches, has been pretty transparent all year with me," Hugus said. "There was gonna be a point in a year where they wanted me to go long, and they were gonna give me an opportunity. I was happy that he let me keep going out there. Today, it was nine innings, some days it’s four innings, but that was just my mentality going into today.”

The second team All-ACC pitcher finished the game, throwing eight innings, allowing eight hits, one earned run, eight strikeouts, throwing 115 total pitches. He showed why he is the Canes' Ace and

"He’s had games, and again, having to explain where he’s got, you know, 85 or 90 pitches, but they’re high-stress pitches," Arteaga said on Hugus's performance. "The one run they gave up was a first-pitch pass, but it was the first pitch of the inning. They just got jumped on and hit in the ballpark. But for the most part, you know, we had a couple of plays, at least some good defensive plays. There weren’t too many high-stress innings. That plays a big factor – It’s how much stress is behind the pitch that he’s throwing, and he was comfortable."

The Hurricanes will now play their first Regional Final since 2019. The Canes lost a dog fight in the Starkville Regional, losing to the Mississippi State Bulldogs 5-3. Don’t look too far ahead because the Canes still have a ways to go, but this is a positive sign for the future of the Hurricanes baseball program. 

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