Baseball To Host Florida In Two-Game Series At Mark Light Stadium

Feb. 8, 2001

Coral Gables, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) — – The University of Miami baseball team (4-1), ranked as high as fourth nationally by Baseball America, host the 13th-ranked University of Florida (1-1) for a two game series at Mark Light Stadium on Friday and Saturday, February 9-10. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m. starts and will be televised by Fox Sports Net Florida, as well as on radio over WACC 830 AM Radio Paz (Spanish) and the student voice of the Hurricanes, WVUM 90.5 FM.

Florida Marlins pitcher Alex Fernandez, who was the National Freshman of the Year as a Hurricane in 1989, will throw out Friday’s first pitch, while new Head Football Coach Larry Coker will throw the first pitch on Saturday. Former Hurricane and Los Angeles Dodger F.P. Santangelo will throw the first pitch in Sunday’s game against #19 Oklahoma State.

Miami and Florida met last weekend in Gainesville on February 3, with the Hurricanes defeating UF, 14-5, on the Gators’ opening day. The win for Miami in Gainesville ended a streak of 20 straight games won by the home team in the series since 1995. UM had lost 10 straight at McKethan Stadium since the 1995 season. In Coral Gables, Miami holds a 10-game win streak over Florida since the 1996 season.

The Miami/Florida series is the longest on-going series on the Hurricanes’ schedule. Only Miami and Florida State have met more times (214), since the 1951 season. Miami leads the all-time series with Florida 104-80-1 since the 1940 season, including a 65-28 advantage in Coral Gables.

Since the 1994 season, UM Head Coach Jim Morris has gone 17-14 against the Gators. Of that record, Morris’ Hurricane teams have gone 14-2 against UF in Coral Gables.

On the mound for the Hurricanes will be junior left-hander Brian Walker (1-0, 3.12 ERA) on Friday and senior right-hander Tom Farmer (1-0, 3.00 ERA) on Saturday. Florida will be throwing junior right-hander Joey Simon on Friday and junior right-hander Jay Belflower on Saturday.

Walker earned his lone victory in the Hurricanes’ season-opener against FAU on Thursday, January 25 with a pre-game determined 5.0 innings pitched, three hits, one earned run, one walk and three strikeouts in UM’s 9-3 victory. His last appearance was a no-decision in the road game at Gainesville, where he went 3.2 innings with five hits, four runs, two earned runs, two walks and four strikeouts. Farmer has made one appearance in 2001, a victory over FAU on January 27. In that game against the Owls, Farmer went 6.0 innings with three hits, two earned runs, three walks and six strikeouts.

After five games played, UM is led by freshman Haas Pratt’s .400 batting average. Pratt, who has two starts so far, has four hits with three RBI. Second on the team in the batting average column is 2000 Freshman All-American Danny Matienzo, who is batting .375, followed by 2000 National Freshman of the Year Kevin Howard’s 364 average.

The Hurricanes will close out the weekend with one game against #19 Oklahoma State on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Mark Light Stadium. The game with the Cowboys is scheduled to be televised by Fox Sports Net Florida, as well as on radio with UM’s flagship state Sports Radio 560 WQAM, WACC 830 AM Radio Paz and the student voice of the Hurricanes, WVUM 90.5 FM.

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 Florida (1-1) at University of Miami (4-1)WHEN:       Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m.WHERE:      Mark Light Stadium, Coral Gables, FLTELEVISION: Fox Sports Net Florida on both nights.  Friday (live), Saturday (tape delay at 11:30 p.m.)RADIO:      Friday and Saturday on WACC 830 AM Radio Paz (Spanish) and WVUM 90.5 FMINTERNET:   Audio broadcast through www.hurricanesports.com