Miami (OH) nearly pulled off a stunning comeback in the bottom ninth but fell just short, losing 14-13 to Wake Forest in the Knoxville Regional on Saturday afternoon.
After a tough 9-2 loss to Tennessee the night before, Miami came in looking to extend their season. Wake Forest, coming off an 11-6 loss to Cincinnati, started strong, jumping to a 4-0 lead with two home runs early. But Miami didn’t back down.
“I think our quest back in the fall was to start earning respect—not only locally, but regionally, and then certainly nationally,” said Miami head coach Brian Smiley. “And there’s no question that this team did that, which is not easy to do. I couldn’t be prouder to be their head coach.”
Both teams struggled on the mound, turning the game into a slugfest. Wake Forest’s offense had big contributions from Dalton Wentz, who went 3-for-5 with a home run and an RBI, Luke Costello, who crushed two homers and drove in five runs, and Matt Scannell, who had a big double and two RBIs.
Miami kept fighting, putting together strong offensive performances of their own. Blake Buzzeo went 3-for-6 with two RBIs, Dillon Baker had a 3-for-6 day with a double and an RBI, and Anthony Zarlingo chipped in with a two-RBI double in his 2-for-4 outing.
The RedHawks rallied late, scoring twice on bases-loaded walks in the seventh to keep it close. In the ninth, Evan Applewick hit a clutch two-run homer, and Buzzeo followed with a two-RBI single, making it a one-run game. With the bases loaded and a chance to tie, Ryan Novak went down swinging, ending Miami’s season in heartbreaking fashion.
“If you want to beat them, you gotta kill them, because knocking them down isn’t good enough—they’re gonna get up and keep throwing punches,” Smiley said.
Miami’s players echoed that mentality. “We’ve talked about it all year that we’re gonna go out there and give everything we’ve got for every pitch,” said shortstop Dillon Baker. “We showed that throughout this regional, and I couldn’t be more proud to be part of this team.”
Catcher David Novak emphasized the team’s resilience. “We’re never gonna give up. No matter the score, we’re gonna compete,” he said.
Wake Forest reliever Haiden Leffew had shut Miami down in the eighth, but the RedHawks made adjustments and chased him in the ninth. “We were gonna go down swinging,” said Novak. “We came up swinging, just fell a little bit short.”
Smiley sees this as just the beginning for Miami’s program. “The gap between brand-name schools and Miami isn’t as big as people think,” he said. “We’ve got respect for programs like Tennessee and Wake Forest, but we proved we can compete at this level. Miami Ohio will be back.”
Wake Forest will now face Cincinnati or Tennessee on Sunday at noon ET, with Matt Dallas set to start on the mound. The winner advances to play again at 6:00 PM ET on Sunday.
