Baseball Tops No. 1 Florida State 7-3 In Series-Opener
April 14, 2000
Coral Gables, FL – University of Miami senior ace David Gil (6-1) tied his career-high with eight innings pitched in leading the 17th-ranked Hurricanes (25-12-1) to a 7-3 victory over in-state rival and No. 1-ranked Florida State (36-6). In breaking snapping the Seminoles six-game win streak, Gil dominated with 10 strikeouts and gave up just three runs on six hits to FSU.
UM also tested out a new closer as junior Tom Farmer recorded his first save of the season, retiring three of four batters faced in the ninth inning. FSU ace Jon McDonald (8-2) took his first loss since falling at Wake Forest on March 17. Also of note, Seminole left fielder John-Ford Griffin’s hitting streak ended at 23 games as he went 0-4 in the game.
The win over the Seminoles is Miami’s first this season, snapping FSU’s three-game win streak over the Hurricanes. Last weekend, Miami was swept by FSU in Tallahassee.
Miami went up 2-0 in the bottom of the third inning on one hit and one FSU error. Shortstop Javy Rodriguez stole home to score the first run of the game, on a play where the FSU catcher Mike Futrell tried to catch UM’s Marcus Nettles stealing second. Futrell faked to go to second, but went to third to catch a running Javy Rodriguez. FSU’s third baseman Marshall McDougall committed a throwing error to allow Javy Rodriguez to score and Nettles to move to third. Javy Rodriguez had reached base earlier on a walk, moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on Nettles’ single to left field. Nettles later scored when centerfielder Mike Rodriguez grounded out to the shortstop.
FSU tied the game a half inning later in the top of the fourth when McDougall to a first pitch fastball off Gil over the left field wall, with right fielder Chris Smith on first base. Smith had reached base earlier with a well-placed bunt down the third base line.
Hurricane right fielder Manny Crespo put Miami ahead in the bottom of the fourth when he scored from third on designated hitter Lale Esquivel’s sacrifice fly to right center. UM later extended the lead to 4-2 when Javy Rodriguez singled in catcher Mike DiRosa all the way from second base. Crespo led off the inning with a double off the outfield wall and moved to third on first baseman Danny Matienzo’s ground out to the shortstop. DiRosa reached base on a walk and moved to second on a single by second baseman Kris Clute.
UM added two more in the fifth for a 6-2 lead. Third baseman Kevin Howard knocked in the first run, Mike Rodriguez, with a single to centerfield. Howard later scored from third on first baseman Danny Matienzo’s RBI single left field. Mike Rodriguez led off the inning with a double to centerfield just prior to scoring on Howard’s RBI single. Howard advanced to third on a single from Crespo.
FSU chipped into the Miami lead with one run in the top of the sixth when designated hitter John Halliday brought in Ryan Barthelemy from third with a sacrifice fly deep to right field. Barthelemy reached base on a hit by pitch, moved to second on a single from Karl Jernigan and to third on a walk to Brett Groves.
Esquivel brought the lead back to four runs in the eighth inning, 7-3, with a solo home run deep to left centerfield.
Miami and Florida State will play the second game of its three-game series on Saturday, April 15 at 7 p.m. at Mark Light Stadium. The game will be broadcasted live by Fox Sports Net and over the radio by Flagship WQAM 560 AM, Spanish WACC 830 AM and student radio WVUM 90.5 FM.
