Baseball Heads Cross Town To Face FIU
Feb. 6, 2001
Coral Gables, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) — – The University of Miami baseball team (3-1), ranked as high as fourth nationally by Baseball America, travel cross town to local-rival Florida International (3-1) on Wednesday, February 7 at 7 p.m. at University Park on the FIU campus.
The game will be broadcast locally by UM’s Spanish Broadcast Network on WACC 830 AM Radio Paz and on the student voice of the Hurricanes, WVUM 90.5 FM. The game can also be heard over the internet at www.hurricanesports.com.
The Hurricanes are coming off a 14-5 victory over Florida in Gainesville last Saturday, marking Miami’s first win over the Gators in its last 10 games at McKethan Stadium since 1995. The win also snapped a string of 20 consecutive victories by the home team in the series. The Sunday game was cancelled due to poor field condition caused by inclement weather. Florida International is fresh of a two-game split with Central Florida in Orlando at Jay Bergman Field. The Golden Panthers defeated UCF 6-2 on the Knights’ opening day on Saturday, but fell 9-0 on Sunday.
Miami and FIU will be meeting for the 96th time since the 1973 season, with the Hurricanes leading the series 78-17. UM holds a modest two-game win streak in the series, including a 14-4 victory in the championship game of the 2000 NCAA Coral Gables Regional. Since coming to Miami in 1994, Head Coach Jim Morris is 17-7 against the Golden Panthers and holds a 5-4 edge at games played away from Mark Light Stadium.
On the mound for the Hurricanes on Wednesday night will be sophomore right-hander Kiki Bengochea (0-0 3.60 ERA), who was originally slated to start in the second game at Florida. Bengochea took a no-decision in his first start of the 2001 season in an 11-10 loss at Florida Atlantic on January 26. He went 5.0 innings with four hits, five runs (two earned), no walks and five strikeouts. FIU will have true-freshman Luis Gazitua (RHP) pitching, who has made two appearances this season in relief.
The Hurricane offense has come from its youth so far in 2001, as freshman Haas Pratt and sophomores Kevin Howard and Danny Matienzo are among the team’s leaders in hitting. Pratt leads the team with a .500 batting average with three hits and two RBI in six plate appearances. Howard, the 2000 National Freshman of the Year, is batting .389 with seven hits, one home run, two doubles and five RBI. Matienzo, a first-team Freshman All-American in 2000, is batting .375 with six hits, one home run and two RBI. Junior catcher Mike DiRosa is also among the team leaders with a .364 batting average, two home runs and six RBI.
The Hurricanes will return to Mark Light Stadium for the second two games against the University of Florida on Friday and Saturday, February 9-10. Both games are scheduled for a 7 p.m. start and are to be televised by Fox Sports Net Florida. WACC 830 AM Radio Paz will carry both home games against the Gators, as well as on WVUM 90.5 FM.
Throwing out the first pitch on Friday night will be former Hurricane All-American and current Florida Marlin Alex Fernandez. On Saturday night, new University of Miami head football coach Larry Coker will throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.
Call 1-800-GO-CANES for season and individual game ticket information or check out UM’s official athletic website, www.hurricanesports.com, for updated information regarding the baseball team.
SERIES INFORMATION:WHAT: University of Miami (3-1) at Florida International University (3-1)WHEN: Wednesday, February 7 at 7 p.m.WHERE: University Park Stadium on the FIU campusRADIO: WACC 830 AM Radio Paz (Spanish), WVUM 90.5 FMINTERNET: Audio broadcast through www.hurricanesports.com
