Florida Atlantic hands Hurricanes their first loss of the season

BOCA RATON — After scoring 35 runs in their three-game, season-opening sweep against Niagara over the weekend, the Hurricanes’ bats went cold in Boca Raton.

UM scored just one run in a 2-1 loss to Florida Atlantic on Tuesday, dropping their first game of the season.

“They did a good job, overall,” Miami coach J.D. Arteaga said. “I guess they gave us a run that first (inning). It was the first game I’ve been a part of where every run was a bases-loaded walk or a hit by pitch. We got in some counts, some favorable counts, and just weren’t aggressive enough. Got beat with some fastballs we should’ve done some damage with. Other than that, it’s just the few balls we did hit hard, they made some good defensive plays.

“We didn’t play great, by no means, but I don’t think we went out and beat ourselves. They just outplayed us and made the big plays when they needed it.”

The Hurricanes got on the board first after FAU pitcher Zach Kilby hit Bobby Marsh with the bases loaded in the first inning, but Kilby escaped the inning without any further damage.

Miami starter Lumpkin pitched 2 1/3 innings, leaving with the bases loaded with one out in the third. Reliever Carson Fischer cleaned up the mess, getting a pop-up and a strikeout to end the inning without surrendering a run.

FAU put two runners on against Fischer in the fourth inning, but freshman Ryan Ashford got a fly out to short right field to escape the jam. The Hurricanes escaped a similar scenario in the sixth inning, with Michael Fernandez getting out of the inning.

But Miami could not escape forever. Fernandez surrendered a leadoff double in the seventh inning and walked the bases loaded before walking Ayden Garcia to tie the game at one. Jackson Cleveland replaced Fernandez and walked in another run before getting out of the inning without further damage.

Unfortunately for the Hurricanes, their offense was stagnant. Miami managed just four hits Tuesday night, going 1 for 12 with runners on base. Miami put runners on in the eighth and ninth innings but could not bring them home to tie the game.

“(The bullpen) was good,” Arteaga said. “If you look at the scoreboard, it looked good. But we did walk seven guys. That’s too many free passes. We put ourselves in some tough situations that we got out of early, but it’s a matter of time when they come back and get you.”