Hurricanes score 27 to cap season-opening sweep over Lehigh

The Miami Hurricanes baseball team scored 27 runs to complete the 2026 season-opening series sweep over Lehigh at home.

“We came in here definitely expecting to win,” said Miami pitcher Tate DeRias. “The offense really, really, really impressed everybody from top to bottom. Every guy got a hit and guys are hitting the balls hard.”

More than half of their runs came in the fifth inning, where the Canes scored 15 runs off the bats of nine different hitters. Catcher Alonzo Alvarez hit twice during the big inning and played a double and triple on his 20th birthday.

“One through nine, we pretty much never let up, and it’s a dangerous hitter in every spot,” Alvarez said. “It’s really fun to be able to hit twice.”

Jake Ogden, Derek Williams, and Cain Copeland each knocked in three hits for the Hurricanes. Daniel Cuvet and Gabriel Milano, who came in as a pinch hitter late in the game, hit a home run for Miami.

“It kind of just shows that we’re gonna be a team that’s gonna hit, and we’re gonna score a lot of runs and try to help our pitchers, pitchers win games,” Alvarez said.

Overall, the Hurricanes, who entered the season with the realistic goal of returning to the College World Series, scored a total of 57 runs against Lehigh, who finished 24-26 last year and has a track record of producing big league talent.

“Also credit to Lehigh,” DeRias said. “Their pitchers, they’re not bad. They’re pretty good guys. They’re pretty good pitchers. And they also have some good hitters over there. So it shouldn’t be looked at as, oh, they should have done that, you know. I don’t think any other team is going to put up 20, put up 27 runs on that, on those guys.”

DeRias was the winning pitcher of the game. He tossed 4.2 innings and struck out nine batters while allowing three runs on four hits.

The baseball team is riding the momentum of other Miami athletic programs, including the football team reaching the National Championship Game and the men’s basketball team winning 20 games after finishing last the previous season.

“Miami’s on fire right now, as far as the city and University and the success that everyone, starting with football and basketball, is having,” Miami head coach J.D. Arteaga said. “So it’s a great place to win. I’ve always said that there aren’t many places better than Miami to win. So when the crowd shows up, it’s a tough place to play in a fun place.”

The Hurricanes will host Central Florida on Tuesday and Indiana State on Wednesday.