Baseball Opens Season With Tennessee
Jan. 29, 2002
Coral Gables, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) — – The Defending National Champion Miami Hurricanes (0-0), ranked as high as No. 2 in the by Baseball Weekly/ESPN Coaches Poll, opens the 2002 season with CWS-rival Tennessee in a three-game series beginning Friday, February 1 at Mark Light Stadium. Friday night’s game is at 7 p.m., while Saturday and Sunday are both scheduled for 1 p.m.
Fox Sports Net Florida is slated to televise the Friday and Sunday games live with Frank Forte and Wicho Hernandez on the call. Sports Radio 560 WQAM will carry the Friday and Saturday games with the “Voice of the Hurricanes” Marc Vandermeer and Joe Zagacki. As always, the student voice of the Miami Hurricanes, WVUM 90.5 FM, will carry every game, home and away, during the 2002 baseball season.
The Friday night season-opener will also feature one of the University of Miami’s greatest legends as former head coach Ron Fraser will throw out the ceremonial first pitch to current head coach Jim Morris. Both Fraser and Morris brought two national titles to the baseball program in 1982, 1985 and 1999, 2001, respectively.
Miami recently moved past Tennessee in the all-time series, 6-4, with a pair of victories, 12-6 and 21-13, at the 2001 College World Series. Both the Hurricanes and Volunteers were seeded in the same bracket meeting in the opener and in a semifinal. Other than the two games against each other, Miami defeated Southern California (4-3) and Stanford (12-1) in the title game, while the Volunteers defeated Georgia (19-12) and USC (10-2).
Prior to the two UM wins at the 2001 CWS, Miami and Tennessee split the previous eight meetings. The two schools have played two three-game series on each other’s field with the home team pulling off the sweep. Tennessee took the last set of games in Knoxville during the 1996 season (3-2, 4-2 and 12-1). Miami swept the Volunteers in Coral Gables during Jim Morris’ first season in 1994 (1-0, 3-1 and 6-0). The first two meetings between UM and UT occurred in Coral Gables during 1989 with each team winning once (5-6 and 4-1).
The Hurricanes, who have a 37-21 record in season-openers, last defeated Florida Atlantic, 9-3, in the 2001 season-opener and are on a four-game win streak since 1998. Additionally, the Hurricanes have not lost a season-opener at Mark Light Stadium since dropping a 9-7 decision to Florida on Feb. 3, 1984.
Miami returns 18 players from last year’s squad that won its second College World Series championship in the last three seasons. The 2001 squad went 53-12 and finished the season riding a 17-game win streak. The win streak included all nine games during the postseason. The ABCA and Collegiate Baseball named Morris the National Coach of the Year, while the team boasted several award winners. The Hurricanes 2002 roster also features the addition of 13 new arrivals to campus.
Making his return to the mound for the Hurricanes on Friday night will be junior redshirt RHP Troy Roberson, who sat out the majority of the last two seasons following elbow surgery. Roberson was 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA as the Hurricanes No. 2 pitcher in 2000 when he was sidelined. Even though he rehabilitated his elbow in 2001, the Texas Rangers made Roberson their 28th round draft pick. Originally, Roberson was a 32nd round pick of the Baltimore Orioles out of King’s Academy in Royal Palm Beach.
Following Roberson on Saturday is Baseball America and Louisville Slugger preseason first-team All-American junior RHP Kiki Bengochea. The 2002 season marks Bengochea’s third as a starting pitcher at Miami and has a 14-9 career record with a 4.01 ERA. He spent his second consecutive summer playing with the USA National Team, totaling a 6-1 record with a 0.61 ERA in two stints combined. Out of nearby Columbus High School, the Kansas City Royals selected Bengochea in the third round of the 2000 draft.
Rounding out the rotation will be sophomore RHP T.J. Prunty, who led the club in 2001 with his 1.29 ERA. Prunty, a former 20th round selection by his hometown Minnesota Twins, made 11 appearances in relief as a freshman in 2001 and 16 strikeouts to just two walks.
Shoring up the UM bullpen will be preseason All-Americans senior RHP Luke DeBold, the set-up pitcher, and sophomore RHP George Huguet, the closer. DeBold was impressive during his junior season with a 67 to 7 strikeouts to walk ratio along with a 1.74 ERA. Entering the 2002 season, DeBold received second-team preseason honors by the NCBWA. Huguet was freshman All-American in 2001 after totaling 14 saves for the Hurricanes and a 2.03 ERA. The NCBWA made Huguet a preseason first-team All-American, while Louisville Slugger had him on its third team.
Also vying for spots in the starting rotation will be sophomore RHP Dan Touchet and freshmen LHP Brandon Camardese and RHP Ryan Dixon. Returning to the bullpen are RHP Vince Vazquez, LHP Andrew Cohn and LHP J.D. Cockroft along with newcomers RHP Ryan Sneir, RHP Vince Bongiovanni and RHP Shawn Valdes-Fauli.
There will be some new faces around the bases for the Hurricanes in 2002. On the left side of the infield, UM returns the All-American duo of senior shortstop Javy Rodriguez and junior third baseman Kevin Howard. Rodriguez led the nation in 2001 with 66 stolen bases, while leading the team with a .382 batting average. He enters the 2002 season a preseason first-team All-American by the NCBWA, a second-team pick by Louisville Slugger and third-team by Baseball America. Howard played for the USA National Team this past summer and was recently named preseason second-team All-American by Baseball America and Louisville Slugger.
The right side of the infield saw the graduation of starters Kris Clute (2B) and Kevin Brown (1B) and will be replaced by true freshman Joey Hooft (2B) and senior Matt Dryer (1B). Hooft, out of Reno, NV, will be the first true freshman infielder to start since Howard in 2000. Fellow true freshman and Gulliver Prep graduate Paco Figueroa will battle Hooft. Dryer served as a reserve infielder in 2001 after transferring from Indian River CC. Prior to IRCC, Dryer was voted Conference USA Freshman of the Year after his one season at UNC-Charlotte in 1999. Sophomore Haas Pratt will also vie for playing time at first base and will also see action at designated hitter.
At catcher will be veteran Danny Matienzo, who had 58 starts as a sophomore in 2001, 12 at catcher, four at first base and 42 as the designated hitter. Last season, he was named to the All-College World Series team after leading the tournament with his .588 batting average, 10 hits, 20 total bases and three home runs. Backing up Matienzo will be freshman Greg Dini and Erick San Pedro.
Junior Kevin Mannix leads a balanced group of outfielders, consisting of three veterans and three newcomers. Mannix enters his second season as the starting right fielder and was named an MVP in the Virginia Valley League this past off-season. In left field will be redshirt sophomore Jim Burt, who made 14 starts as a freshman. Burt came on strong down the stretch in 2001 batting .444 over the Hurricanes season ending 17-game win streak. Centerfield will be filled by true freshman Danny Figueroa, an identical twin of infielder Paco. Noted as the best defensive outfielder, Figueroa was a draft pick of the Atlanta Braves coming out Gulliver Prep. The reserve outfielders will be consist of senior Brad Safchik in centerfield and newcomers Matt Barket and Rich Giannotti.
Tennessee, which went 48-20 in 2001, lost 12 lettermen from last season’s squad that tied for third place at the College World Series and finished as high as fourth in the Collegiate Baseball poll. Among the 14 lettermen returning are top players Dennis Gomez (1B), Javi Herrara (C), Brandon Hopkins (OF), Dan Wilson (OF) and Patrick Hicklen (LHP).
The Volunteers will go with the sophomore Hicklen on Friday night. He has already been named a team captain for the 2002 season and was an All-Regional pick a year ago. Last season, Hicklen went 5-4 with a 5.27 ERA in 16 appearances, nine starts. Sophomore LHP Ben Riley, a transfer from Iowa Western CC, will start Saturday’s game. Junior LHP Jeffrey Terrell (Okalossa-Walton JC) and freshman RHP Jay Sadlowe will vie for the Volunteers third spot in the rotation.
Call 1-800-GO-CANES for season and individual game ticket information or check out UM’s official athletic website www.hurricanesports.com for updated information regarding the baseball team.
