Baseball Travels to N.C. State This Weekend
April 19, 2000
Coral Gables, FL – The University of Miami baseball team (26-13-1), ranked as high as No. 11 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, travels to the state of North Carolina this weekend for a three-game series with N.C. State.
Friday night’s game at 7 p.m. with the Wolfpack takes place at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, home of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays AAA team. The Hurricanes and Wolfpack will play its Saturday (7 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.) games at Doak Field on the campus of N.C. State in Raleigh.
All three games can be heard on UM’s student station WVUM 90.5 FM, with Dan Laing and Rick Thomas on the call.
Miami is coming off a successful home series with then-No. 1 Florida State in Coral Gables last weekend, where the Hurricanes won two of the three games with the top-ranked Seminoles. With the series victory over FSU, Miami is additionally ranked No. 12 in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN Coaches’ Poll and No. 14 by Baseball America.
Miami is led offensively by its freshman third baseman Kevin Howard, who leads the team with a .372 batting average and 48 hits. Fellow freshman Danny Matienzo, first base, is second on the squad with a .360 batting average and 45 hits. Senior Lale Esquivel, who has had a home run in three consecutive games, leads the team with 12 home runs, 38 RBI, 28 walks and 76 total bases.
Recently, Baseball America rated Howard a Mid-Season First-Team Freshman All-American, while Matienzo and freshman RHP Kiki Bengochea were named to the second team. Senior RHP David Gil was a Second-Team All-American among the senior class.
Starting on the mound for the Hurricanes on Friday in Durham will be Gil (6-1, 2.74 ERA). Gil last defeated FSU on April 14 by tying a career-high with 8.0 innings pitched along with 10 strikeouts over the Seminoles. Sophomore LHP Brian Walker (6-2, 3.46 ERA) and Bengochea (4-2, 3.49 ERA) will take to the mound for the Hurricanes on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
N.C. State (28-14, 8-10), who plays at Old Dominion on Wednesday, defeated UNC-Greensboro, 8-7, at Doak Field on Tuesday. TheWolfpack are led offensively by Sophomore Brian Wright, who has a .384 batting average and 68 hits. Sophomore RHP Ryan Combs has been filling in the staff ace role and is 4-3 on the 2000 season with a team-best 3.77 ERA.
Series Information
WHAT: Miami (26-13-1) at N.C. State
WHERE: Durham Bulls Athletic Park, Durham , NC (Friday)
Doak Field, Raleigh, NC (Saturday & Sunday)
WHEN: Friday @ 7 p.m., Saturday @ 7 p.m., Sunday @ 1 p.m.
RADIO: Student – WVUM 90.5 FM
INTERNET: link on at www.hurricanesports.com
PROBABLE PITCHERS
FRIDAY: UM – David Gil/SR/RHP/6-1/2.74 ERA/6-4/220/Miami, FL
SATURDAY: UM – Brian Walker/SO/LHP/6-2/3.46 ERA/6-3/204/Miami, FL
SUNDAY: UM – Kiki Bengochea/FR/RHP/4-2/3.49 ERA/6-2/195/Miami, FL
