Hurricanes And Owls Set To Open Season
Jan. 25, 2001
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University of Miami Hurricanes (0-0-0)
#4 Baseball America, #8 ESPN/Baseball Weekly, #9 Collegiate Baseball
vs.
Florida Atlantic University Owls (0-0-0)
Games broadcasted by the Sports Radio 560 WQAM (Thurs.), WACC 830 AM Radio Paz (Thurs.) and WVUM 90.5 FM
January 25-27, 2001
Mark Light Stadium, Coral Gables, Florida (1/25, 27)
Foley Field, Boca Raton, Florida (1/26)
MIAMI VS. FLORIDA ATLANTIC — Miami and Florida Atlantic have met 38 times since the 1982 season, with the Hurricanes leading 33-5. Miami has won 15 of the past 16 meetings, including an 11-5 win in the 2000 Coral Gables Regional. Head Coach Jim Morris is 13-1 against FAU since coming to Miami in 1994. The lone loss during the Morris era was a 7-2 decision on February 9, 2000.
MIAMI IN SEASON OPENERS — Miami holds a 35-21 overall record in season opening games. Last season, UM defeated local-rival Lynn 5-4 at Mark Light Stadium. The last loss in a season-opener for the Hurricanes was January 16, 1997, a 3-2 loss at Hawai’i. UM has not lost a season-opener at home since a 9-7 defeat to Florida on February 3, 1984 (13 games).
EL DUQUE AND C.J. HIGHLIGHT OPENING WEEKEND FESTIVITIES — New York Yankees star pitcher Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez and Florida Marlins catcher Charles Johnson, who starred for the Hurricanes from 1990-92, will throw out the first pitch for the University of Miami baseball games against Florida Atlantic on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.
Hernandez, better known as “El Duque”, has seen three seasons of action with the New York Yankees since defecting from Cuba in 1998. Hernandez was a star pitcher for the Cuban National Team for many seasons before signing as a free agent by the Yankees for the 1998 season.
Charles Johnson made a quick impact at the University of Miami upon his signing with the Hurricanes in 1989. Johnson, a first round draft pick and 10th overall selection of the Montreal Expos, forgo professional baseball to play with the Hurricanes. In his rookie season at UM, Johnson tied the freshman home run record with 11 to earn a selection to both the Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball newspaper Freshman All-America teams. Johnson eventually concluded his tenure at Miami as a three-year letterman and a two-time Golden Spikes Award finalist. In his final season with UM in 1992, Johnson was named a First-Team All-American by The Sporting News. Upon leaving Miami in 1992, Johnson was once again drafted in the first round by his hometown Florida Marlins, but not before playing with the United States National Team at the Barcelona Olympics.
2001 HURRICANES DEFEAT STAR-STUDDED ALUMNI TEAM 13-1 — Fifty-eight former Hurricanes spanning seven decades returned to Mark Light Stadium on Jan. 20 to take part in the annual alumni game against the 2001 squad. The current Hurricanes were able to use efficient pitching and timely hits en route to the 13-1 victory over the former Hurricanes that included, Pat Burrell (1996-98), Jorge Fabregas (1989-91), David Gil (1997-00), Bobby Hill (1997-99), Aubrey Huff (1997-98), Charles Johnson (1990-92), Ryan Karp (1991) and Denis Pujals (1992-96). The 2001 squad also out-hit the alumni 15-1.
RODRIGUEZ, HOWARD EARN BASEBALL AMERICA PRESEASON THIRD-TEAM HONORS — Junior centerfielder Mike Rodriguez and sophomore third baseman Kevin Howard were each named to the Baseball America 2001 Preseaosn Third-Team All-America list, as selected by the Major League Scouting Directors. Rodriguez was last a freshman all-american two seasons ago, while Howard was arguably the highest decorated freshman player in the nation last season. Howard was the Baseball America National Freshman of the Year as well as first-team freshman All-American.
WALKER EARN NCBWA PRESEASON THIRD-TEAM HONORS — Junior ace Brian Walker was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writer’s Association preseason third-team. Walker led the pitching staff in 2000 with a 12-2 record at the No. 2 position in the rotation.
WALKER, HOWARD EARN BASEBALL AMERICA PRESEASON THIRD-TEAM HONORS — Junior ace Brian Walker and sophomore third baseman Kevin Howard were each named to Collegiate Baseball’s TPX Louisville Slugger Preseason All-American third-team. Howard was the Co-Freshman of the Year by Collegiate Baseball in 2000.
BASEBALL AMERICA RANKS MIAMI FOURTH IN PRESEASON POLL — The Hurricanes were ranked fourth in Baseball America’s annual preseason top 25 poll. UM was selected behind Georgia Tech, Southern California and Louisiana State. Of Miami’s 56 regular season games, UM play 17 or 30.4% of its schedule against team’s ranked in Baseball America’s preseason top 25 poll (#7 FSU, 6, #13 Florida, 4, #15 Cal State Fullerton, 3, #23 East Carolina, 3, #24 Minnesota, 1).
BASEBALL WEEKLY/ESPN RANKS MIAMI EIGHTH IN PRESEASON POLL — The Hurricanes were ranked eighth in Baseball Weekly/ESPN annual preseason top 25 poll. UM was selected behind Georgia Tech, Louisiana State, Southern California, Florida State, Clemson, Arizona State and Nebraska. Of Miami’s 56 regular season games, UM play 12 or 21.4% of its schedule against team’s ranked in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN preseason top 25 poll (#4 FSU, 6, #12 Cal State Fullerton, 3, #14 Florida, 4).
COLLEGIATE BASEBALL RANKS MIAMI NINTH IN PRESEASON POLL — The Hurricanes were ranked ninth in the Collegiate Baseball newspaper annual preseason top 40 poll. UM was selected behind Georgia Tech, Southern California, Louisiana State, Nebraska, Clemson, Arizona State, Rice and Florida State. Of Miami’s 56 regular season games, UM play 22 or 39.3% of its schedule against team’s ranked in the Collegiate Baseball preseason top 40 poll (#8 FSU, 6, #12 Cal State Fullerton, 3, #13 Florida, 4, #30 East Carolina, 3, #31 FIU, 4, #35 Oklahoma State, 1, #39 Minnesota, 1).
HURRICANE ROSTER HAS MAJOR LEAGUE TALENT — The 2001 Hurricanes have a total of 19 players who have been selected in the Major League Draft. Freshman pitcher Kiki Bengochea is the highest drafted player on the UM roster (3rd Rd./Kansas City Royals). Additionally, 19 of UM’s 33 rostered players or 57.6 percent have been drafted by the pros.
SAC. CITY CONNECTION — If the Miami baseball program had a AAA affiliate it may be Sacramento City (CA) Community College. In the past 18 years, 15 Hurricanes came from Sacramento City CC.
HURRICANES HARD TO NO-HIT — Entering the 2001 season, Miami has not been no-hit in 2,174 games. The last time the Hurricanes were no-hit was by Ken Huebner of Florida Southern on April 18, 1964 in Lakeland.
HURRICANES AMONG THE BEST ALL-TIME: Research conducted by the University of Minnesota, Big 12 Conference and the NCBWA has shown that the University of Miami baseball program has the third-best overall winning percentage in the history of collegiate baseball. Entering the 2001 season, UM has won .721 percent of its all-time games (1,848-715-15). The .721 percent places behind Texas’ .765 percent and Florida State’s .729 percent. Miami has been playing varsity level baseball for 56 seasons, including 2001, and has forged a total of 1,848 wins. The win total places UM 30th overall among the near 300 teams listed.
50-40-30 WIN PLATEAU — Miami has won at least 50 games in four of the past five seasons under Head Coach Jim Morris. UM has won at least 40 games for seven straight years, 12 of the last 13 years and 26 of the last 28 years. Miami has won 30 or more games for 30 consecutive years. The last time UM failed to win 30 games was 1970 when the Hurricanes finished 28-15-1. Morris’ lowest single-season win total in his seven previous seasons at UM was 41 in 2000.
MIKE FIORE HIGHLIGHTS PRESEASON “FIRST PITCH” BANQUET — Former Hurricane standout Mike Fiore was the keynote speaker at the annual “First Pitch” Banquet at the Biscayne Bay Marriott. Fiore was an All-American for the Hurricanes from 1985-88 before playing in the St. Louis Cardinals organization. After spending five years as an executive with USA Baseball, Fiore now works for Scot Boras and Associates in Los Angeles.
JOE GRAHE INDUCTED INTO THE ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME — At a banquet held on February 15 at the Downtown Miami Hyatt Regency, former Hurricane pitcher Joe Grahe (1987-89) was among eight 2001 inductees into the University of Miami Athletics Hall of Fame. Grahe joins Eric Brown (Men’s Basketball), Craig Erickson (Football), Sam Jankovich (AD), Melinda Lyverse (Women’s Swimming), Russell Maryland (Football), John Noppenberg (Football), Ros Riach (Women’s Tennis).
UM KEEPS HOME THREE-GAME SERIES STREAK ALIVE — By sweeping New York Tech in the final regular season series of 2000, UM won its 17th consecutive three-game series at Mark Light Stadium and 45th of the last 46 three-game series.
Overall, UM has won its last six three-game series and 10 of 11 on the 2000 season.
Since April, 1995, UM has lost a three-game series at home just once when Florida State took two of three games, May 1-3, 1998. This season, FSU was the lone school to defeat UM in a three-game series – in Tallahassee.
MIAMI/FLORIDA SPLIT SEASON SERIES – AGAIN! — The Hurricanes and Gators might have one of the greatest rivalries in all of college baseball. Over the last five seasons, each team has won both of its home meetings against the opponent. Each team will bring a 10-game win streak, dating back to the 1996 season, against the other when UM and UF meet again in 2001. The Hurricanes took the first two games at Coral Gables, 16-8 and 17-1, this season, while UF rebounded to steal a 4-3 win followed by 20-11 result in Gainesville. UM holds a 103-80-1 advantage in the all-time series dating back to the 1940 season and 16-14 in the Jim Morris era.
