Baseball Goes 12 Innings For 10-9 Win Over Elon
Feb. 17, 2001
Coral Gables, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) — – Kevin Mannix‘ walk-off single in the bottom of the 12th inning to score Charlton Jimerson propelled the the University of Miami baseball team (8-2), ranked fourth by Baseball America, to a 10-9 victory over Elon Colleg (5-3) in front of 1,263 at Mark Light Stadium.
Kris Clute led off the 12th inning with a fly out to centerfield. Jimerson was the first Hurricane on base after a walk by Elon reliever John Schaefer (1-1). Jimerson then stole second. Javy Rodriguez then singled to left field to mo Jimerson to third. Rodriguez then stole second, followed by a walk to pinch-hitter Brad Safchik. Mannix then came up with the game-winning single to left center.
UM reliever Danny Touchet (1-0) earned his first collegiate win in the outing, going the final 2.0 innings with just one hit and three strikouts.
The game was moving in the Hurricanes favor nearly the entire game under starter Kiki Bengochea. The sophomore went the first 7.0 innings, allowing two hits, one unearned run, one walk and five strikeouts. Following his departure, the UM bullpen surrendered eight runs (five earned) over the eighth and ninth innings.
Offensively, UM had six batters with multiple hits, including a career-high five from Javy Rodriguez along with another best six RBI. Mannix also had four hits.
Elon had made the latter innings even more interesting after a six-run eighth to take a 7-5 lead, then losing the lead on a Javy Rodriguez grand slam in the bottom of the eighth, Brian Ingram hit a two-run home run off reliever Jeff Reboin in the ninth to tie the contest, 9-9. Jason Tuttle led off the inning with a single, prior to Ingram’s game-tying shot to right field.
Javy Rodriguez‘ eighth inning grand slam had erased a 7-5 Elon lead and turned it into a 9-7 advantage. Haas Pratt led of the inning with a single to left field, followed by a walk to Matt Dryer. Clute then successfully bunted down the third base line to load the bases. After a Jimerson pop out to the shortstop, Javy Rodriguez put the Hurricanes ahead with his grand slam over the right field wall on Elon reliever Nathan Holcomb.
Elon’s comeback started with a six run eighth off the Hurricane bullpen that erased a 5-1 lead into a 7-5 UM deficit. Wes Miller led off the inning with a double off reliever Andrew Cohn. After a Tuttle ground out, moving Miller to third, Ingram singled to left field and took second on the throw. Miller scored. Ryan McBee then doubled to right field to score Ingram. Shaun Kopcczynski then singled to left field, moving McBee to third. Cohn threw a wild pitch allowing McBee to score and Kopczynski to second. Cohn then hit Whit Bryant with a pitch. Reliever George Huguet then came in and allowed Morgan Frazier to reach on a fielder’s choice, while Kopczynski scored. Reboin then came in, forced one out and allowed a two-RBI single to Logan Parsons.
The Hurricanes opened up scoring in the first, 1-0, when Mike Rodriguez singled in Javy Rodriguez from third off Bryant. Javy Rodriguez earlier reached base on a single to centerfield and moved to third on a Kevin Mannix single to right field.
UM went up 2-0 in the third when Jimerson scored from second off a fielding error on a Danny Matienzo deep fly to Tuttle. On the play, Tuttle misplayed the fly, allowing Matienzo to take second and Jimerson to come home.
Elon narrowed the lead, 2-1, in the fourth when Jimerson misplayed a Frazier fly to centerfield to allow McBee to score. McBee led off the inning with a double to left field off Bengochea and took third on a botched pick-off attempt.
Miami came back with two more runs, 4-1, in the bottom of the fourth. Pratt scored the first run when he came home from third on a Bryant wild pitch. Clute scored the second run when he also came in from third on a Javy Rodriguez infield bunt towards third base. After Kevin Brown grounded out to start the inning, Pratt took first on an infield single to the shortstop. Dryer then walked. Clute reached base on a fielder’s choice, forcing Dryer out at second with Pratt moving to third. Bryant followed up with a wild pitch to allow Pratt to score, while Clute stole second. Jimerson hit an infield single to the shortstop, moving Clute to third prior to Javy Rodriguez‘ RBI bunt.
Javy Rodriguez put the Hurricanes up, 5-1, in the sixth when took a Bryant pitch deep to centerfield for a triple, scoring Clute on the play. Clute reached base on a walk, stole second and then to third on a Jimerson fly out to center.
Bryant left the game following 6.1 innings pitched with 10 hits, five runs (four earned), four walks, one wild pitch and six strikeouts.
Miami and Elon will conclude the three-game series on Sunday, February 18 at 1 p.m. at Mark Light Stadium. The game will be televised by Fox Sports Net Florida, as well on the radio on Sports Radio 560 WQAM, the Spanish Broadcasting Network WACC 830 AM Radio Paz and the student voice of the Hurricanes WVUM 90.5 FM. The game can also be heard over the Internet at hurricanesports.com.
Call 1-800 GO CANES for season and individual game ticket information. To join the excitement, log on to hurricanesports.com and become a member of Hurricane Watch, the on-line loyalty program that allows you to purchase tickets on-line, transfer tickets to friends via e-mail and earn Hurricane rewards for each game you attend at the Light.
