College baseball roundup: Hurricanes rally to beat Central Florida in extra innings

Four games into his first year as a Miami Hurricane, Vance Sheahan waited for his first signature moment in the green and orange.

His opportunity arrived on Tuesday night, and he capitalized on it. The junior, who transferred from USC Upstate, smashed a 406-foot walk-off home run to push the Hurricanes past Central Florida 8-7.

It was his first homer of the season. He hit 12 home runs and 57 RBIs last year with the Spartans.

The Hurricanes fell into a 5-0 hole through the first six innings. Andrew Williamson hit a two-run home run in the third inning and drove in another run on a single in the fourth after Jordan Lodise hit an RBI double. DeAmez Ross plated in a single in the fifth inning.

The Hurricanes finally found themselves on the board in the eighth inning after Jake Ogden hit a two-run homer. Sheahan getting hit by a pitch led to a run scored in the ninth and Michael Torres tied the game 6-6 with a two-run single.

The Knights scored on a sacrifice fly by Ross in the 10th inning but the Canes kept the game going after a solo home run by Daniel Cuvet.

The Knights again took the lead at the top of the 13th on an RBI single by Javier Crespo. However, the Hurricanes would not be denied. Alberto Alvarez hit a leadoff double to set up Sheahan’s game-winning bomb.

After an opening series in which they scored a total of 57 runs in a clean sweep, Tuesday was the first time this season the Hurricanes faced true adversity and passed the test.

“We were down early but the thing about this team is we keep fighting,” Sheahan said after the game. “We knew we were going to have a big inning at some point. It was just a matter of time. We just got it together and got the win.”

Miami hosts Indiana State on Wednesday and Lafayette for a weekend series starting on Friday.

FAU beats Missouri

The Florida Atlantic Owls defended the nest onn Tuesday with a 4-2 win over SEC member Missouri.

Nick Romano broke the 2-2 tie with a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning. It was the redshirt senior’s first hit of the season.

“Nicky’s got off to a little bit of a tough start and finally got the barrel to the fastball and good things happen when you do that,” FAU head coach John McCormack said after the game.

The Owls established a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning. Michael Perazza and Patrick Ward reached base on back-to-back singles. Xavier Moronta drove in his first run and hit as an OWL and TJ Gramesty hit a sacrifice fly. Moronta, a graduate student who transferred from Division II Nova Southeastern, hit .343 with six home runs and 40 RBI in 43 games for the Sharks last year.

Missouri’s only runs came on a two-run home run by Jase Woita in the sixth inning.

FAU pitcher Kide Adetuyi, who spent last year in the bullpen, threw 5.1 innings with four strikeouts and allowed two runs on three hits in his first collegiate start.

FAU hosts Iowa this weekend starting Friday.

FIU beats Beathune-Cookman

Vicente Feliciano went 2-for-4 with two home runs to powers the FIU Panthers’ 12-5 win over Bethune-Cookman on the road. Feliciano, who transferred from Seattle, has three home runs, five RBI and a .333 batting average through his first four games as a Panther.

The Panthers fell behind 4-0 after the Wildcats pounced in the first inning. FIU found itself on the scoreboard in the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Cole Cleveland. The Panthers erupted in the fourth inning with a seven-run rally to take command of the game.

Along with Feliciano, Aiden Cohall went 2-for-3 with two RBI for the Panthers. Enrique Sierra pitched two shutout innings of relief with four strikeouts to record the win.

The Panthers host Holy Cross for a four-game weekend series starting Friday with a doubleheader Saturday.