Baseball Set To Host Jacksonville
May 3, 2001
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University of Miami Hurricanes (36-11)#3 Baseball America, #3 Baseball Weekly/ESPN, #2 NCBWA, #5 Collegiate Baseball
vs.
Jacksonville University
Friday: WACC 830 AM (Spanish), WVUM 90.5 FM, www.hurricanesports.com
Saturday: WVUM 90.5 FM, www.hurricanesports.com
Sunday: WVUM 90.5 FM, www.hurricanesports.com
May 4-6, 2001
Mark Light Stadium, Coral Gables, FL
SUNSHINE STATE SUCCESS — Miami has recorded a 16-3 record against Division I foes from the Sunshine State. Miami’s previous best record against Florida schools under Jim Morris 17-5 in 1999.
UM opened the season taking two of three games from Florida Atlantic. The next weekend, Miami won in Gainesville for the first time in five years. After winning in each others’ park, Miami took two straight meetings from Florida International at the Homestead Challenge. UM took two of three games from Florida State in Coral Gables followed by a three-game sweep of the Seminoles in Tallahassee. Most recently, UM defeated Stetson, 10-9, this past Monday at Mark Light.
HURRICANES KNOCK OFF STETSON IN BOTTOM OF NINTH — Javy Rodriguez hit a walk-off single with bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to push Miami past Stetson 10-9. Down 9-6 in the top of the ninth, Stetson’s Brian Snyder hit a two-out three-run home run off UM closer George Huguet to tie the game. UM rallied in the bottom of the inning as Kris Clute led off with a double to right center. Kevin Brown then hit an infield single to move Clute to third. After Greg Lovelady struck out, Stetson intentionally walked Brad Safchik to load the bases. Javy Rodriguez followed with his game-winning single, a ground ball that bounced over third base.
UM was led in the game by Rodriguez and Danny Matienzo, who each had three hits. Lovelady led the way with four RBI, ahead of Rodriguez and Matienzo’s two each. UM starter Chris Sheffield recorded nine strikeouts in 5.0 innings of work with just three hits allowed.
KIKI BENGOCHEA INVITED BACK TO USA BASEBALL TRIALS — Kiki Bengochea was announced as one of 19 collegiate players invited to participate in the 2001 USA Baseball National Team Trials – to be held in Tucson, Arizona June 16-19. The USA National Team will be selected from a pool of approximately 20-29 players, of which an additional 5-10 has yet to be determined. Team USA will play 30 games on the Red, White and Blue Summer Tour, beginning on June 22 with the 30th annual USA vs. Japan Collegiate All-Star Series, which this year will be played in Japan.
Last season following his freshman campaign at Miami, Bengochea was among the first players invited and eventually made the team. He compiled a 3-0 record for Team USA with a 0.00 ERA in 20.0 innings. He assisted the National team to an all-time best 1.56 team ERA and 27-3-1 record.
JAVY RODRIGUEZ, MARCUS NETTLES AND GEORGE HUGUET AMONG NCAA BEST — As of April 29, the Hurricanes have two players ranked among the top 14 nationally in stolen bases, led by Javy Rodriguez (2nd) and Marcus Nettles (14th). Rodriguez also had the second-most stolen bases (41) at the time of polling and was just three-hundreths behind national leader Matt Davis of VCU (43, .935 per game). Nettles ranks 14th with a .722 per-game average.
Freshman closer George Huguet is tied for third nationally with 11 saves. He remains two behind national leader Dave Bush of Wake Forest (13).
HURRICANES TAKE FINAL TWO GAMES TO CLINCH SERIES VS. VIRGINIA — After dropping the first game to Virginia, 5-0, the Hurricanes rebounded to win the next two, 5-1 and 12-6, and earn the series victory.
The 5-0 loss to the Cavaliers marked UM’s first home shut out since a 4-0 loss to Texas A&M during the 1995 NCAA Regionals. UVa starter Brandon Creswell pitched a complete-game against UM allowing just four singles with four walks and nine strikeouts. The Cavalier offense came off a pair of home runs from Dan Street (a two-run shot in the fourth) and Hunter Wyant (a three-run shot in the fifth).
Game No. 2 saw UM rebound off a season-high eight strikeouts from Brian Walker, who earned his ninth win of the season. UM’s three hits were its lowest all season.
Miami clinched the series on Sunday after recording 11 hits and a solid effort by Tom Farmer. Farmer earned his ninth win of the season after allowing two runs (one earned) in 5.0 innings. UM had an 11-2 lead when he left the game. The UVa offense came off a grand slam in the seventh inning.
JIM MORRIS’ HURRICANES AGAINST THE ACC — Since Jim Morris’ first season with the Hurricanes in 1994, Miami has forged a 64-33 record against Atlantic Coast Conference schools. Subtract the annual six-game series with the Seminoles and UM is 32-12.
PLAYING AWAY FROM THE LIGHT — The Hurricanes have recorded a 12-1 record in games played away from Mark Light Stadium, including a current 12-game win streak. So far this season, UM is 8-1 in away games and 4-0 in neutral-site games.
Under Jim Morris, UM’s previous best record away from home was 12-6 in 1998. The 1964 Hurricanes also went 8-1 away from home.
The lone loss for UM outside Coral Gables was a narrow 11-10 loss at FAU in the second game of the season, where the Hurricanes took a lead into the bottom of the ninth inning against the Owls.
MIAMI TAKES FIVE OF SIX GAMES AGAINST FLORIDA STATE — With similarities to Miami’s 1999 National Championship season, UM took five of six games against the Seminoles this season. The annual six-game series against FSU began with UM falling to the Seminoles, 10-9, in game No. 1 in Coral Gables, but rebounding to win the final two games at home, 5-4 and 7-1.
The Hurricanes then went up to Tallahassee and swept FSU in all three games, 7-5, 9-6 and 7-4. The sweep at FSU marked a first for the Seminoles since UM did the same during the 1998 season. In fact, UM is the only school to ever sweep FSU at home in a three-game series, attaining the feat in 1992, as well as 1998 and 2001.
The series victory in Tallahassee marked the fifth under Jim Morris that UM won the three-game series at Dick Howser Stadium. Additionally, it was the third time under Morris that UM swept both the Coral Gables and Tallahassee series in a single season. The series win in Coral Gables also marked the third consecutive season UM won its home series.
The five of six games won by UM marks the fifth time under Morris that UM has won the majority of the annual six games played. UM is 5-2-1 in the “six-game” series against FSU since 1994. Since FSU coach Mike Martin took the helm of FSU in 1980, FSU is 6-9-6 against UM in the annual six games.
FSU still leads the overall series with UM 115-104-3. The Miami/FSU series is the second-oldest on-going rivalry on the Hurricanes schedule behind the Florida series (1940), but UM and FSU have played the most games (222).
Game #3, Miami 7, Florida State 4 (Tallahassee) — The Hurricanes came up with three runs in the eighth inning to break a 4-4 tie an clinch the three-game sweep of FSU. After loading the bases on Robby Read, FSU relieved him with Justin Lord who threw a wild pitch to score the eventual game-winning run. FSU third baseman Scott Toole then allowed a Javy Rodriguez grounder threw his glove for an error and two more runs to score. The bullpen allowed three hits, no runs or walks and two strikeouts over the final 3.0 innings. Game #2, Miami 9, Florida State 6 (Tallahassee) — UM broke open a 6-6 game in the eighth inning with Kevin Brown’s two-run home run off reliever Daniel Hodges then added a run in the ninth off Kevin Howard’s RBI single to clinch the series victory. The game started off with a first-pitch home run from Charlton Jimerson off starter Matt Lynch. Mike DiRosa also tallied his team-best eighth home run in the fourth inning that broke open the FSU pitching with eight runs over the final six innings. Game #1, Miami 7, Florida State 5 (Tallahassee) — After FSU jumped out to a 5-1 lead, UM came back to score six unanswered runs over the final four innings for the win in the series opener. UM scored three runs in the seventh inning to tie the game with home runs from Mike Rodriguez and Mike DiRosa (two-run shot). In the eighth, the Hurricanes pulled ahead on Danny Matienzo’s solo home run and added a run in the ninth on Charlton Jimerson’s RBI single. The bullpen allowed just three hits, no runs or walks with two strikeouts over the final 3.0 innings pitched. Game #3, Miami 7, Florida State 1 (Coral Gables) — Tom Farmer earned the win with 5.0 innings and three singles in winning the “rubber” game and the series. The bullpen allowed two more singles over the final 4.0 innings. UM broke open the game with a four-run sixth inning that featured a three-run home run from Mike DiRosa.. The six-run margin of victory was the largest for the Hurricanes since a 7-1 UM win in 1998, 22-game span. Game #2, Miami 5, Florida State 4 (Coral Gables) — The Hurricanes scored five runs over the first 2.0 innings and held on for a 5-4 win. After Brian Walker following 5.1 innings, the bullpen held the Seminoles to one hit, three walks and six strikeouts over the final 2.2 innings. Luke DeBold recorded a career-high five strikeouts. Danny Matienzo had his sixth home run, a two-run shot in the first. FSU recorded two errors to allow Kevin Howard to score in the third, followed by a Charlton Jimerson two-RBI double later in the inning. Game #1, Florida State 10, Miami 9 (Coral Gables) — FSU raced out to a 7-2 lead, before UM stormed back with seven unanswered runs to take the 9-7 lead going into the sixth. FSU’s Mike Futrell hit a first-pitch two-run home run off T.J. Prunty to immediately tie the game, 9-9, in the sixth. Later in the inning, FSU’s Karl Jernigan hit a double, took third on a Prunty wild pitch and came around to score the eventual game-winning run on a throwing error by Greg Lovelady.
AN ATTENDANCE HIGH FOR UM/FSU– The 13,443 fans that attended the 2001 UM/FSU Coral Gables series were the most for a three-game series at Mark Light Stadium since 13,980 attended the UM/FSU series in 1995. The 5,643 in attendance on Saturday was the largest crowd at Mark Light Stadium since 6,136 watched UM defeat South Carolina, 14-2, in the NCAA Regionals on May 23, 1998. The crowd was also the largest vs. FSU since 6,290 came out to see the Hurricanes defeat the Seminoles, 5-4, on April 25, 1992.
In Tallahassee, a season-high crowd showed up for two consecutive nights on Friday (4,736) and Saturday (5,051). For the six games against the Seminoles, a total of 26,823 fans attended – an average of 4,471 per game.
BULLPEN HAS SOLID SEASON VS. FSU — The UM bullpen was a significant reason in UM’s season series win over Florida State. For the six games, the bullpen had an ERA of 1.96 and allowed a run in just two of the four games. The FSU bullpen had a 4.88 ERA and were scored on in five of six games. The starters ERA was 4.94 to 6.11, in favor of Miami. Additionally, UM’s pen totaled more strikeouts than the starters (23 to 20).
GREG LOVELADY, VINCE VAZQUEZ NAMED 2001 TEAM CAPTAINS — Senior catcher Greg Lovelady and junior relief pitcher Vince Vazquez were named Co-Captains in a team vote on Wednesday, April 4. Both Lovelady and Vazquez were star players during the Hurricanes march to the 1999 National Championship.
Lovelady took over the catching duties just over a month left in the `99 season after Russ Jacoboson sustained a wrist injury. He caught the remaining regular season games and all nine during the undefeated NCAA tournament run.
Vazquez was the primary set-up pitcher to All-American closer Michael Neu during the 1999 season. He impressed many during the NCAA Tournament, striking out nine in 7.0 innings pitched. His efforts landed him as a 2000 preseason All-American, but missed the season due to Tommy John elbow surgery.
MIAMI SWEEPS SAVANNAH STATE — The Hurricanes swept their series with Savannah State to mark the third three-game sweep of the season for UM and sixth overall on the year. UM is now 151-34 in first-time meetings (no service or international teams included). UM has defeated Albany and San Diego State in first-time meetings. UM snapped the Tigers 19-game win streak heading into the series.
UM totaled a season-high 16 runs and 16 RBI in game No. 3. Chris Sheffield had a one-hitter threw 4.1 innings of game No. 2 before a blister on his pitching hand forced him to leave the game. Kiki Bengochea had a career-high nine strikeouts in game No. 1, while Danny Touchet earned his first save.
UM SWEEPS SERIES WITH NORTHEASTERN — The Hurricanes swept the series with Northeastern and moved their all-time record against the Huskies to 9-0. The Sunday victory allowed Head Coach Jim Morris to earn his 1,000th career victory. George Huguet tallied saves in all three games.
UM DEFEATS CORNELL 2-1 IN 10 — With bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th, pinch-hitter Jim Burt hit a walk-off single to right field to score Javy Rodriguez from third for the game winning run. Right-hander Chris Sheffield had arguably one of the best outings by a UM starter this season, pitching a career-high 7.0 innings (108 pitches) with a team-season-best 11 strikeouts. He allowed a season-low by a starter two hits with just one earned run, with three walks. Reliever Andrew Cohn earned his first collegiate victory, retiring the final Cornell batter in the top half of the 10th.
MIAMI WINS SERIES WITH EAST CAROLINA — Miami took its series with East Carolina two games to one and now have an all-time record of 3-2 vs. the Pirates. A rain-delay and travel curfew allowed UM to win 8-4 in eight innings in game No. 3 to clinch the series. Andrew Cohn earned his first save in game No. 3, while Kevin Howard went a perfect 4-for-4. UM lost game No. 2 when ECU put it away with a four-run ninth. Game No. 1 saw the bullpen allow a 12-2 lead to evaporate into a narrow 14-13 UM win.
MIAMI SWEEPS SOUTH FLORIDA IN TAMPA — The Hurricanes took both games with South Florida in Tampa to extend its streak to seven straight over the Bulls. UM has not lost to USF since the final meeting of the 1998 season. The two wins push the all-time series to 73-25 in favor of UM, including a 15-3 mark under Jim Morris.
Game No. 2 was a slugfest with the score tied, 7-7, by the end of the second inning. Dan Smith earned his first win with a career-best 4.0 innings of relief in game No. 2. Chris Sheffield earned the win for UM in game No. 1 as he went a career-high 6.0 innings with just two earned runs. UM turned a 2-1 deficit into the 8-2 win with seven runs over the final four innings.
UM WINS SEVENTH STRAIGHT IN 6-2 VICTORY OVER PITTSBURGH — Javy Rodriguez’ three-RBI triple in the seventh and a multiple-hit night by Jim Burt and Marcus Nettles was all the offense UM needed for its seventh straight victory, 6-2, in a mid-week game against Pittsburgh. Chris Sheffield through a no-hitter over the first 4.0 innings, while the bullpen finished the final five with just three hits and one earned run. The three hits tied a season-low allowed by the UM pitching staff.
HALL OF FAMER TONY OLIVA VISITS HURRICANES AT METRODOME — Hall of Famer Tony Oliva, who played for the Minnesota Twins from 1962-76, visited the Hurricanes in their dugout just prior to the game vs. Minnesota. Oliva was the only player in major league history to win batting titles in his first two full seasons (1964-65). He was one of the most graceful, natural hitters of all time, but had his career cut short by a bad knee. He was an All-Star selection from 1964-71 and was the Gold Glove award winner in 1966.
HURRICANES WIN HORMEL FOODS CLASSIC TITLE WITH SWEEP — Miami claimed the 2001 Hormel Foods Baseball Classic with a three-game sweep of San Diego State, Minnesota and Arkansas at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Javy Rodriguez was named the tournament’s MVP as well as All-Tournament shortstop, while Brian Walker (SP), Kevin Howard (3B), Kevin Mannix (OF) and Mike Rodriguez (OF) were also named All-Tournament selections.
The sweep gave Miami its second University of Minnesota tournament championship in its three all-time appearances (1986, 1990, 2001). The Hurricanes also had a three-game sweep for the title during the 1990 season at the Pillsbury Baseball Classic. The 1986 advanced to the championship game of the Wheatis Tournament of Champions, but fell to Michigan. Javy Rodriguez joins Oscar Munoz (1990) as UM’s Tournament MVP’s. Game #3 Miami 8, Arkansas 2 — UM moved to 4-0 all-time vs. Arkansas and 158-114-1 vs. the SEC with its 8-2 win. Tom Farmer earned the win with 7.0 innings pitched with both runs coming off misplayed fly balls in right field. Mike DiRosa homered for the second time during the tournament. Game #2 Miami 10, Minnesota 1 — UM moved to 11-3 all-time vs. Minnesota and 94-40-5 vs. the Big Ten with its 10-1 win. UM is also 20-4-1 vs. the Big Ten under Jim Morris. Brian Walker won his 12th game and allowed a team-season-best three hits in 7.0 innings. Javy Rodriguez went 4-4 in the game with three RBI. Game #1 Miami 8, San Diego State 6 — UM won the first-ever meeting with San Diego State and moved to 4-0 all-time vs. teams currently in the Mountain West Conference with its 8-6 win. Kiki Bengochea went 7.0 innings for the win with a eight strikeouts. Mike DiRosa and Kevin Brown each homered.
VAZQUEZ MAKES RETURN IN 14-0 SHUTOUT OF ALBANY– Vince Vazquez made his long-awaited return to the mound against Albany pitching the seventh inning. Vazquez, a preseason All-American entering the 2000 campaign, missed all of 2000 recovering from Tommy John elbow surgery. In his one inning against Albany, Vazquez retired all three batters faced, two by strikeout.
Miami recorded three triples in the bottom of the seventh to set a new school-record. The previous mark was two, set by one player Manny Crespo, against Illinois on March 6, 1998. Matt Dryer, Kevin Mannix and Kevin Howard each recorded their first triples the 2001 season for the new mark.
MIAMI TAKES THREE-GAME SERIES AND SEASON SERIES WITH FIU — UM took two of three games for the series victory over FIU. Additionally, Miami won three of four games played with FIU in 2001. Miami now leads the overall series with FIU, 81-18, dating back 1973. The Miami/FIU series is the third-longest on-going rivalry on the UM schedule behind Florida (1940) and Florida State (1951). UM has won 12 of the past 16 meetings with FIU, including five of the last six. Jim Morris is 20-8 vs. FIU since coming to UM in 1994.
Game #4 (Homestead), Miami 2, FIU 0 — Kiki Bengochea threw the first complete-game shutout in the Jim Morris era along with four hits, one walk and eight strikeouts. Javy Rodriguez led off the scoring by stealing home in the first inning, followed by Charlton Jimerson’s second home run in as many days in the eighth. Bengochea’s complete-game was just the fifth at Miami during the Morris tenure. The last player to record a complete-game was David Gil, twice during the 2000 season (Jacksonville and FAU). UM’s shutout was also the first on the season and first since defeating N.C. State, 12-0, in 2000. Game #3 (Homestead), Miami 10, FIU 2 — Charlton Jimerson led off the game with a solo home run. Ten UM batters had hits, while six had multiple hits. Along with Jimerson, Danny Matienzo and Mike Rodriguez each homered. Brian Walker went a career-high 8.0 innings pitched in the game with seven hits, two earned runs, three walks and six strikeouts. Jim Morris won his 350th at UM. Game #2 (Coral Gables), FIU 17, Miami 10 — The 17-10 victory over Miami marked the most runs scored and largest margin of victory in the all-time series for FIU. Six lead changes and a see-saw battle between UM No. 4 starter Chris Sheffield and FIU ace William Collazo paved the way for the highest combined score (27) between the two schools. Collazo, who entered the game with a 4-0 mark and a 0.67 ERA, left following 3.0 innings pitched and six earned runs (seven overall). FIU’s Tommy Duenas gave his team the lead for good with a three-run home run in the fourth to put FIU up 9-6. The eight relief pitchers used by UM tied the school record set twice during the Ron Fraser era. Game #1 (Miami, 2/7), Miami 4, FIU 3 — UM moved to 14-10 against FIU in one-run games with a 4-3 win in front of a sell-out crowd at University Park. Kiki Bengochea, who pitched 5.1 innings, went five no-hit innings before a three-run homer moved FIU within one run. From that point, the bullpen took the final 3.2 innings with three hits, no walks and seven strikeouts.
MIAMI AT THE HOMESTEAD CHALLENGE — The 2001 season marked the Hurricanes fourth consecutive year participating in the Homestead Challenge. Miami has forged a 7-1 record since the 1998 season and have currently placed two players, Kevin Howard (2000) and Daryl Roque (1999), on All-Tournament teams. Most notable is that five of the top six paid attendance games, including the all-time high, are Miami games. The Miami/FIU game in 2000 drew a Homestead Challenge-best 3,861, while UM’s most recent two games with FIU drew the No. 2 (2,782) and No. 3 (2,317) attendance marks.
MIAMI SWEEPS ELON IN THREE-GAME SERIES — In game No. 3, Kevin Mannix broke a 4-4 tie in the fifth with a solo home run, while Kevin Brown added another (two-run shot) later in the inning. George Huguet closed the final 2.0 innings of game No. 3 for his first save. Game No. 2 saw Kevin Mannix hit an RBI single in the 12th to score Charlton Jimerson for the extra-inning victory. Mannix went 4-6 behind the plate, while Javy Rodriguez had a career-numbers in 5-6 with a triple, a grand slam, six RBI and two stolen bases. Danny Touchet finished off the final 2.0 innings of game No. 2 for his first win. Brian Walker set a new school-record in game No. 1 with three pick-offs, surpassing J.D. Arteaga’s mark of two set vs. Jacksonville on May 10, 1997. Arteaga, coincidentally, threw out the first pitch.
UM SWEEPS SERIES WITH FLORIDA FOR 12 STRAIGHT — With wins in both games against Florida at Mark Light Stadium, Miami pulled off the season-sweep of the Gators for the first time since winning all four games in 1991, including the 14-5 win in Gainesville on February 3.
The two wins at home also extends UM’s win streak over Florida in Coral Gables to 12 straight games since the 1996 season. The earlier win in Gainesville snapped a 10-game losing streak for UM at McKethan Stadium. Additionally, the three-game sweep of UF marks the the eighth straight overall series won by the Hurricanes dating back to 2000. A total of 9,694 fans came for the two-game series at the Light, marking a two-game high in the series since 11,342 came in 1989. Miami brings its all-time series total to 105-80-1 vs. Florida since the 1940 season. The UF 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. Since the 1994 season, Head Coach Jim Morris has gone 19-14 against the Gators, including a 16-2 mark in Coral Gables. Against the Southeastern Conference while at Miami, Morris is 35-25 since 1994. Game #2 (Coral Gables), Miami 8, Florida 7 — Mike DiRosa had sat out nearly the entire game resting a bruised shoulder suffered in the Friday win over UF, and in his lone at bat in the bottom of the ninth he came up with a walk-off single to score Charlton Jimerson for the winning margin. UM fell behind, 4-0, early, but rallied behind a Mike Rodriguez two-run home run, a Danny Matienzo home run and a Kris Clute two-RBI single. Game #1 (Coral Gables), Miami 10, Florida 4 — UM received an all-around effort in the victory with 10 runs and 13 hits from its offense, no errors and 11 Gators left on base from its defense and just one earned run off a balk from the bullpen. After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the second, Kris Clute hit a three-run home run deep to left field to put UM ahead for good in the bottom of the second. Clute tied his career-best in the game with four RBI. Game #1 (Gainesville), Miami 14, Florida 5 — UM defeated Florida on the Gators’ opening day at McKethan Stadium to end a string of 20 straight wins by the home team in the series. Miami last defeated UF in Gainesville, 10-2, on February 2, 1995. The nine-run margin of victory was the largest for UM in Gainesville since the 1985 season. The bullpen allowed just three hits and one run over the final 5.1 innings. The UM offense produced a season-best 14 hits and 14 runs. Six UM batters had multiple hits, including Kevin Mannix and Mike DiRosa, who each had three RBI.
HURRICANES START 2001 WITH SERIES WIN OVER FAU — Miami took its first series of the 2001 season by winning two of three games with Florida Atlantic. With the 2-1 mark against the Owls, Miami moves to 35-6 against FAU since the 1982 season, including wins in 17 of the last 19 meetings.
The Hurricanes never trailed in game No. 3, as starter Tom Farmer earned the victory and clinched the rubber game for the Hurricanes. Farmer had six strikeouts, along with the save by Luke DeBold. Kevin Howard had a two-run homer in the third to give UM the winning margin. Game No. 2 saw the Owls turn a 10-9 deficit in the ninth into an 11-10 victory in Boca Raton after DeBold allowed three hits, one walk and two earned runs for the loss. Six lead changes occured in the contest, including a late three-run rally by the Hurricanes to tie the game 9-9 in the eighth. In game No. 1, Miami broke a 2-2 tie in the fourth with three runs. UM then put the game out of reach in the eighth with four more runs.
MIAMI IN SEASON OPENERS — Miami holds a 36-21 overall record in season opening games. The Hurricanes defeated FAU, 9-3, in the 2001 season-opener at Mark Light Stadium on February 25. The last loss in a season-opener for the Hurricanes was January 16, 1997, a 3-2 loss at Hawaii. UM has not lost a season-opener at home since a 9-7 defeat to Florida on February 3, 1984 (14 games).
RIVALS.COM RATES TOP 100 COLLEGE PROSPECTS — Rivals.com has rated three UM players among its top 100 college prospects: #34 Kiki Bengochea, #48 Kevin Howard and #76 Brian Walker. In addition, Luke DeBold, Danny Matienzo, Marcus Nettles and Mike Rodriguez also appear on Rivals.com’s prospects list for the state of Florida.
BASEBALL AMERICA RATES TOP 100 COLLEGE PROSPECTS — Baseball America has rated three UM players among its top 100 college prospects in the next MLB draft in its latest Early Draft Preview edition: #39 Mike Rodriguez, #86 Brian Walker and #93 Marcus Nettles. In addition, Rodriguez and Nettles are listed as two of the fastest outfielders in the country.
WALKER, HOWARD EARN STREET & SMITH’S PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA HONORS — Junior ace Brian Walker and sophomore third baseman Kevin Howard were each named to Street &Smith’s 2001 preseason All-American team.
RODRIGUEZ, HOWARD EARN BASEBALL AMERICA PRESEASON THIRD-TEAM HONORS — Junior centerfielder Mike Rodriguez and sophomore third baseman Kevin Howard were each named to the Baseball America 2001 Preseaosn Third-Team All-America list, as selected by the Major League Scouting Directors. Rodriguez was last a freshman all-american two seasons ago, while Howard was arguably the highest decorated freshman player in the nation last season. Howard was the Baseball America National Freshman of the Year as well as first-team freshman All-American.
WALKER EARN NCBWA PRESEASON THIRD-TEAM HONORS — Junior ace Brian Walker was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writer’s Association preseason third-team. Walker led the pitching staff in 2000 with a 12-2 record at the No. 2 position in the rotation.
WALKER, HOWARD EARN COLLEGIATE BASEBALL PRESEASON THIRD-TEAM HONORS — Junior ace Brian Walker and sophomore third baseman Kevin Howard were each named to Collegiate Baseball’s TPX Louisville Slugger Preseason All-American third-team. Howard was the Co-Freshman of the Year by Collegiate Baseball in 2000.
