Baseball Defeats FAU 9-3 In Season Opener
Jan. 25, 2001
Coral Gables, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) — – The University of Miami baseball team (1-0), ranked four by Baseball America, opened up the 2001 season with a 9-3 victory over visiting Florida Atlantic (0-1) at Mark Light Stadium on the UM campus.
The game began with New York Yankees star pitcher Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez throwing out the first pitch and signing autographs for numerous fans.
Junior left-hand ace Brian Walker (1-0) earned the victory for the Hurricanes after going 5.0 innings, allowing three hits, two earned runs, one walk and three strikeouts. Junior RHP Chris Sheffield came into the game in relief of Walker and quickly set the pace for the remaining portion of the game. Sheffield, in three innings pitched, allowed just one hit, no runs, and a career-best seven strikeouts. Freshmen Andrew Cohn and George Huguet combined to finish the final inning for Miami.
Offensively, the Hurricanes jumped out first with two runs in the third inning. Junior catcher Mike DiRosa led off the inning with a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior second baseman Kris Clute. DiRosa took third following a pass ball by FAU catcher Dean Devine on a walk to junior shortstop Javy Rodriguez. After a wild pitch from starting FAU pitcher Chris Pillsbury (0-1), DiRosa came in to score and Rodriguez moved to third. Sophomore third baseman Kevin Howard knocked Rodriguez in with a double to right field.
The Owls answered back in the top of the fourth with two runs to tie the game, 2-2. The Hurricanes contributed to FAU’s offense with two defensive errors that allowed second baseman Tim McNab to move into scoring position and later left fielder Regan Samaniego to score from third. Samaniego reached base with a single, which put McNab at second following a walk to start the inning.
Miami regained the lead for good with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Mike Rodriguez started the inning by reaching base on a fielding error by first baseman Alex Fernandez, then stole second. First baseman Kevin Brown then doubled to center to score Mike Rodriguez. Later in the inning, Brown scored on another wild pitch by Pillsbury. Clute later doubled to knock in DiRosa from second.
The Hurricanes put the game out of reach in the bottom of the eighth with four runs off four hits, including a two-run home run from DiRosa. Howard led off the inning with a single, then took second on a sacrifice bunt from sophomore designated hitter Danny Matienzo. Another wild pitch allowed Howard to move to third. Mike Rodriguez then doubled to right field to score Howard. After a pass ball allowed Mike Rodriguez to move to third, pinch-hitter Haas Pratt knocked in his first run with a single to centerfield. DiRosa then homered that also scored pinch runner Brad Safchik.
With the win, Miami moves to 34-5 all-time against Florida Atlantic, including wins in 16 of the last 17 games. Head Coach Jim Morris now moves to 14-1 against the Owls since arriving at UM in 1994.
Miami and FAU will meet again, Friday night at 7 p.m. at the Owls’ Foley Field in Boca Raton. The two teams will end the three-game series at Mark Light Stadium on Saturday at 7 p.m. Florida Marlins catcher Charles Johnson, who starred for the Hurricanes from 1990-92, will throw out the first pitch.
