Baseball Travels To Rival Florida State For NCAA Super Regionals
May 29, 2000
Complete Notes in PDF Format
Coral Gables, FL (www.hurricanesports.com) – The University of Miami baseball team (40-17-1), ranked 11th by all three major college baseball polls, travels to Tallahassee to take on national No. 6 seed Florida State in the NCAA Super Regionals, June 2-4, at Dick Howser Stadium. The winner of the best-of-three format will earn a berth in the eight-team field at the College World Series in Omaha, NE, June 9-17 at Rosenblatt Stadium.
Miami advanced to the Super Regionals by sweeping three games against the field in the Coral Gables Regional this past weekend. The No. 1 seeded Hurricanes began play with a 19-5 over fourth-seed Wagner. In the day two winners bracket game, Miami slugged its way to an 11-5 decision over local rival Florida Atlantic. Miami then defeated Florida International in the championship game, 14-4, to advance to the round of 16 in the 2000 postseason.
Freshman Danny Matienzo was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Performer after batting .438 going 7-16 at the plate with six runs scored, one double, two home runs, one grand slam and a team-high nine RBI. Matienzo solidified the honor in the championship game against FIU, going 3-5 with a grand slam and a double with five RBI.
Additionally, outfielders Manny Crespo, Kevin Brown and Mike Rodriguez, along with first baseman Lale Esquivel and pitcher David Gil made the Coral Gables Regional All-Tournament team.
Miami won its three regional games by a combined score of 44-14, while out-slugging its opponents 44-27 with a 41-12 advantage in RBI. UM enters the Super Regional riding a national-long 12-game postseason win streak. Last season, UM won all nine postseason games en route to its third national title. In that title game, Miami defeated current Super Regional opponent Florida State, 6-5.
The Seminoles, seeded No. 1 in last weekend’s Tallahassee Regional, advanced to the round of 16 by winning two games over the No. 2 seed Central Florida on the tournament’s final day. FSU opened up regional play with a victory over Bethune-Cookman. UCF then defeated FSU in the day two winners bracket game. The Seminoles rebounded from the loss by knocking out third-seeded Evansville in an elimination game prior to its two-game sweep of the Golden Knights.
Miami is led offensively by First Team Freshman All-American Kevin Howard, who leads the team with a .420 batting average, 86 hits, 22 doubles, 124 total bases and a .487 on-base percentage. Senior first baseman Lale Esquivel leads the team with 20 home runs and 66 RBI and places second with 123 total bases.
Louisville Slugger Second Team All-American David Gil will lead the UM charge on the mound. Gil (11-2) picked up the win against FAU by pitching a complete game with a postseason-high of 10 strikeouts. Gil has now pitched back-to-back complete games in his last two starts, a first since Joe Grahe did so in 1989.
Sophomore Brian Walker (11-2) picked up the win in the championship game against FIU by pitching 7.1 innings in shutting down the Golden Panthers. Freshman RHP Kiki Bengochea (5-4), who earned the win over Wagner with 8.0 innings pitched, is slated for game No. 3.
