Baseball Wins Series With Seminoles After 7-1 Victory
April 15, 2001
Coral Gables, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) — – The University of Miami baseball team (30-10), ranked as high as eighth by Baseball America, defeated #4 Florida State (33-9), 7-1, in front of 2,860 fans Sunday afternoon at Mark Light Stadium to clinch its three-game home series with the Seminoles.
Miami used an all-around effort in the victory with a solid effort from the pitching, timely hitting and an error-free defense. The series victor over FSU marks the third consecutive won by Miami over the Seminoles at Mark Light Stadium. The six-run margin of victory was the most by Miami over FSU since defeating the Seminoles, 7-1, on May 1, 1998 – a 22-game span.
Tom Farmer (8-2) scored the win on the mound with 5.0 innings pitched, three hits (all singles, one earned run, one walk and two strikeouts. The bullpen, consisting of Andrew Cohn, Chris Sheffield, Alex Prendes and George Huguet, combined to hold FSU scoreless with just two hits the 4.0 innings.
UM out-hit FSU 11-5, including multiple-hit games from Javy Rodriguez and Kevin Howard. Mike DiRosa led the way with a home run, followed by doubles from Javy Rodriguez, Howard (2) and Kris Clute.
The defense did not commit an error in the game for the 11th time this season.
Leading 2-1 going into the bottom of the sixth, the Hurricanes pulled away from the Seminoles with four runs, including a three-run home run from DiRosa.
The Hurricanes got on the scoreboard first with one run in the first inning when Marcus Nettles scored from third on Mike Rodriguez’ fielder’s choice grounder. Nettles led off the inning getting hit by a Marc LaMacchia (5-1) pitch and moved to second on Javy Rodriguez bunt single. Both runners moved to second and third on the play when LaMacchia overthrew the first baseman.
FSU tied the game in the fourth when Nick Rogers singled in Ryan Barthelemy from third base. Barthelemy led off the inning with a single to left field and moved to third on Mike Futrell’s single to right field.
Miami regained the lead 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth when Howard tagged up from third on Charlton Jimerson’s infield single towards the pitcher. Howard had reached on a walk, took second on a walk to Kevin Brown and to third on a wild pitch. LaMacchia was relieved after the run was scored with Trent Peterson, facing a bases-loaded the situation. LaMacchia went 3.2 innings with four hits, two runs (one earned), three walks, three strikeouts, a wild pitch and a hit batter.
Miami extended its lead, 6-1, in the bottom of the sixth with four runs on four hits, including a three-run home run by DiRosa. Howard led off the inning with a double to right center. Brown followed with a single to right field, allowing Howard to move to third. Clute knocked in the first run, Howard, with a double to left center. DiRosa then hit his sixth home run of the season deep to left center, scoring Brown and Clute on the play.
UM extended its lead in the eighth to 7-1 following Javy Rodriguez’ RBI single down the left field line scoring DiRosa from third. DiRosa was hit by a pitch to lead off. Jimerson moved DiRosa over with a sacrifice bunt. Jim Burt followed with a single to right field, with DiRosa moving to third.
Miami and Florida State will continue next weekend with a three-game series at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee. Game times are 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. All three game will be broadcast on the student voice of the Hurricanes, WVUM 90.5 FM, as well as on the Internet at hurricanesports.com. The Friday and Saturday games will be televised by the Sunshine Network.
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.
