Baseball Takes Series With Savannah State 7-2
April 8, 2001
Coral Gables, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) — – Shortstop Javy Rodriguez went 2-for-3 at the plate, scoring two runs and knocking in another to lead the University of Miami Hurricanes baseball team (27-9), ranked as high as eighth by Baseball America, to a 7-2 victory over the Savannah State Tigers (30-8) in front of 1,518 fans at Mark Light Stadium Saturday night.
Six Miami pitchers limited the Tigers to five hits and combined to collect 15 strikeouts in the ballgame. UM Starter Chris Sheffield worked 4 1/3 innings before leaving with a blister on his throwing hand. He allowed just one hit and struck out eight without a run or walk. Reliever Dan Smith (2-0) got the victory by working 1 2/3 innings allowing one run, one hit, walking one and collecting two strikeouts. Luke DeBold, Alex Prendes, T.J. Prunty and George Huguet also saw action for the Hurricanes.
Sheffield’s abbreviated appearance due to a broken blister on his pitching hand was the second of such this season that took a way a certain victory from the junior. Earlier this season against Pittsburgh, Sheffield had a scoreless no-hitter through 4.0 innings.
Offensively, Miami garnered seven runs despite only five hits. Four UM batters recorded the hits, led by Javy Rodriguez’ two. Danny Matienzo and Mike Rodriguez recorded doubles, while Marcus Nettles had an infield single.
Three SSU errors were instrumental in the game, leading directly to four UM runs. Starter Tim Fries (1-3) took the loss for Savannah State, allowing seven runs on four hits with three strikeouts in six innings of work.
In the Miami first, Nettles led off with an infield single and advanced to second on an errant pickoff throw by Fries. Nettles moved to third on another infield single by Javy Rodriguez, who also stole second. After Kevin Howard lined out to the shortstop, a walk to Matienzo loaded the bases with one out. After Mike Rodriguez struck out swinging, Tiger shortstop Wesley Garcia let a grounder off the bat of Haas Pratt get through his legs for an error, scoring Nettles and Javy Rodriguez. UM came away with an early 2-0 lead.
Leading 3-0 entering the sixth, the Hurricanes extended their lead with an RBI double to right centerfield by Matienzo scoring Howard from first base. Mike Rodriguez followed with an RBI double to right center field to score Matienzo. Mike Rodriguez advanced to third base on a fly out to right and then scored on a wild pitch.
In the seventh, Javy Rodriguez had an RBI single to left field scoring Kris Clute from second base. Clute had led off the inning with a walk, then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Nettles. Javy Rodriguez also had his career-best fourth stolen base of the night and his 34th of the season during the inning.
In the top of the ninth, Savannah State’s Bob Settle led off the inning with a bunt single and moved to second on a throwing error. Settle then moved to third on a single to left field by T.J. Lonnon. With one out, Settle scored on a passed ball, which moved Lonnon to second base before Huguet got out of the inning for Miami to end the game.
The two teams will conclude the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Light. The game can be heard over the Internet at hurricanesports.com, as well as on the student voice of the Hurricanes, WVUM 90.5 FM.
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.
