Baseball Faces South Florida In Tampa
March 12, 2001
The University of Miami baseball team (17-5) travels to annual-rival South Florida (8-10) for a two-game series on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 13-14. Game times are scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday night, followed by 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
Both games can be heard over the radio at the student voice of the Hurricanes, WVUM 90.5 FM, as well as on the Internet at UM’s official athletics website hurricanesports.com. Additionally, Tuesday night’s game will be televised by Fox Sports Net Florida.
Miami leads the all-time series with South Florida, 71-25, since the 1967 season, including a 28-13 record at Red McEwen Field in Tampa. Under Head Coach Jim Morris (1994-present) the Hurricanes have gone 13-3 against the Bulls and 5-1 in Tampa.
Last season, UM swept a three-game series with USF at Mark Light Stadium with scores of 8-3, 6-0, and 3-2. Miami is currently riding a five-game win streak against USF with its last loss coming during the 1998 season, a 15-2 defeat in Coral Gables. In their last visit to USF, Miami came away with a pair of wins, 9-4 and 8-5, during the 1999 season.
On the mound for the Hurricanes Tuesday night will be junior right-hander Chris Sheffield (1-0, 4.40 ERA). Sheffield last pitched four no-hit innings to start the Pittsburgh game and left prior to the start of the fifth with an open blister on his pitching hand. Wednesday night will be the debut of Jeff Reboin (0-2, 5.68 ERA) as a starter. The junior left-hander from Sacramento City Junior College has nine appearances in 2001 with the majority coming in long-relief roles.
Offensively, UM is led by Javy Rodriguez’ .425 batting average. He also has a team-best .625 slugging percentage, .489 on-base percentage, 34 hits, 28 RBI, 50 total bases, 22 stolen bases in 22 starts. Also making a surge is junior left fielder Marcus Nettles, who places second on the team with a .380 batting average. In his last two starts, Nettles has gone 5-of-8 at the plate with five runs scored, two RBI, two walks and five stolen bases. He has the second-best on-base percentage (.484) and 11 total stolen bases.
Miami will return to Mark Light Stadium next weekend, March 16-18, with a three-game series against the East Carolina Pirates. Game times are scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
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 email and earn Hurricane rewards for each game you attend at the Light.
