Baseball Has Tough 2002 Schedule
Oct. 18, 2001
Coral Gables, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) — – The 2001 College World Series Champion Miami Hurricanes open up defense of their crown against a familiar opponent, the Tennessee Volunteers, February 1-3, 2002 at Mark Light Stadium. The Hurricanes faced Tennessee twice in last season’s College World Series with UM winning both games, 21-13 and 12-6, respectively.
Along with the Volunteers, UM’s 2002 home schedule features three-game series against Florida (2/8-10), Minnesota (2/15-17), South Florida (3/8-10), Rutgers (3/15-17), UCLA (3/23-25, Elon (3/29-31), Florida State (4/12-14), Long Beach State (4/19-21) and Bethune-Cookman (5/3-5). Within the home schedule are mid-week games against FAU (2/13), Ball State (3/13), Wisconsin (3/20) and FIU (5/1).
Miami’s road schedule in 2002 will be as competitive as any in the nation with road games at 2001 Super Regional qualifier FIU (2/6), Cal State Fullerton Kia Bash (3/1-3), Florida State (4/5-7), North Carolina (4/26-28) and Georgia Tech (5/10-12). At the Kia Bash, UM will play 2001 CWS opponent Southern California (3/1), 2001 CWS qualifier Cal State Fullerton (3/2) and Houston (3/3).
The Hurricanes will also play for the fifth straight season at the Homestead Challenge at the Homestead Sports Complex. UM will open up the Challenge against local-rival FIU (2/22), followed by games Kansas State (2/23) and Lipscomb (2/24 at Mark Light Stadium).
The Hurricanes will also play an exhibition game against the Florida Marlins just prior to the opening of the 2002 MLB season at Mark Light Stadium. The Hurricanes earned the right to play Florida in exhibition play, due to finishing the 2001 season as the top-ranked team in the state of Florida. The Marlins will play one exhibition game per spring training season against the state’s highest-ranked college program the previous season. UM has only missed out on playing the Marlins twice, during the 1994 strike season when Florida did not play any college or in 2000 when FSU defeated Miami in the Tallahassee Super Regional.
Overall, UM will play 39 games (of a total of 56) against 14 teams that competed in last season’s NCAA Tournament. Of those 14 opponents, five won regional tournaments and played in Super Regionals. Three 2002 opponents qualified for the College World Series.
The Hurricanes start preparation for defense of their 2001 crown when fall practice opens on Thursday, November 1st at 4 p.m. at Mark Light Stadium on the UM campus. Practice, which will consist of 12 daily sessions, will run through Thursday, November 15th. These sessions are open to the public.
The Hurricanes return several members from last season, including national steals leader and All-American Javy Rodriguez (SS), All-CWS Danny Matienzo (C), 2001 USA National Team member Kevin Howard (3B), USA National Team member Kiki Bengochea (RHP), 2001 Freshman All-American George Huguet (RHP) and 2002 All-American candidate Luke DeBold (RHP).
Miami returns 19 players from the 2001 squad that ended the season on a national-best 17-game win streak, including all nine games in the postseason, while finishing 53-12 overall. Among the 19 players returning are nine position players and 10 pitchers. The squad will welcome at least 11 freshmen once the spring practice commences.
Last season under Head Coach Jim Morris, Collegiate Baseball and the ABCA’s 2001 National Coach of the Year, the Hurricanes won their fourth all-time National Championship and second in the last three seasons. A school-best 11 players were drafted in the MLB First-Year Players Draft, while two more signed free agent contracts.
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