Baseball Sweeps Minnesota With 7-6 Victory
Feb. 17, 2002
Coral Gables, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) – – Kevin Howard put the exclamation point on a stellar day with a first at-bat, first-pitch walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to hand the Miami Hurricanes (5-4) a series sweeping 7-6 victory over Minnesota (0-3) in front of 1,637 fans Sunday afternoon at Mark Light Stadium.
Howard finished the day going 3-for-5 at the plate with two runs and two RBI. Both runs and RBI came off of solo home runs. Howard earlier tied the game at 2-2 with a shot that traveled on top of the parking garage in right field. For the weekend, Howard finished sixth on the team with a .429 batting average (6-for-14) with four home runs and five RBI. He had home runs on each day, including his first two home-run game since his freshman season against Long Beach State in 2000.
After falling behind, 6-4, following a three-run eighth inning by Minnesota, the Hurricanes came back to tie the game 6-6 in the bottom portion of the inning. With one out, Haas Pratt reached on a hit-by-pitch by Minnesota reliever Jeff Moen (0-1). He scored on the next at bat when Matt Dryer tripled down the left field line. Two batters later Dryer scored the tying run on an RBI single from Erick San Pedro to right field.
Closer George Huguet (1-0) scored the win in relief, going 2.0 innings with two hits, an earned run, two walks and three strikeouts. Huguet had also recorded his first save of the season a day earlier in UM’s 21-17 thriller over the Golden Gophers.
The weekend sweep of Minnesota was highlighted by a return of the Hurricanes offense that shined in the 2001 College World Series. After entering the weekend with a .251 team batting average, Miami jumped to .313 following a .436 performance in three games against Minnesota. The Hurricanes also quadrupled their home run total from four to 16.
For the weekend, eight UM batters hit .333 or higher, including five with .500-plus averages. Three batters, Howard (4), Danny Matienzo (5) and Jim Burt (3) accounted for all of UM’s home runs for the weekend. Burt had his first grand slam, in Saturday’s game, and led the club for the weekend with a .583 batting average (7-for-12, 7 RBI). Matienzo had a team-best eight RBI along with a .556 batting average. Dryer had a .556 as well. Senior All-American Javy Rodriguez placed second on the team for the weekend with a .571 batting average and tied the team-high with three stolen bases.
UM starter T.J. Prunty departed after 5.0 innings pitched, allowing five hits, three earned runs, two walks and four strikeouts. Shawn Valdes-Fauli, who would go 2.0 hitless innings with four strikeouts, replaced him. Minnesota starter Josh Krogman also went 5.0 innings with six hits, two earned runs, two walks and four strikeouts.
The Hurricanes return to action next weekend at the Homestead Challenge, facing Florida International on Friday night at 7 p.m. and Kansas State Saturday at 7 p.m. Both games will be played at the Homestead Sports Complex. On Sunday, the Hurricanes will return to Mark Light Stadium where they will face Lipscomb at 1 p.m.
The Florida Marlins have scheduled a game with the Miami Hurricanes for Wednesday, March 6th at 3:05 p.m. at Mark Light Stadium. Each season, the Marlins play the highest-ranked college team from the year prior. By way of winning the College World Series in 2001, Miami was that team. All but the 2000 season, Florida and the University of Miami have played since the Marlins inaugural season in 1993.
For more information on UM athletics and the Hurricane baseball team, log on to www.hurricanesports.com. For ticket information call 1-800 GO CANES.
