Baseball Hands No. 10 Florida State A 5-2 Defeat
April 6, 2002
Tallahassee, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) – The University of Miami baseball team (18-14) put an end to 10th-ranked Florida State’s 19-game home winning streak with a 5-2 victory over the Seminoles Saturday night in front of 4,812 fans at Dick Howser Stadium.
The victory evened up the weekend series with FSU (29-11) heading into Sunday’s series finale at 1:30 p.m. The game can be heard over the Internet at www.hurricanesports.com or on the student voice of the Hurricanes, WVUM 90.5 FM. Sunshine Network will be televising the game as well.
FSU last lost at Dick Howser Stadium on February 9, 15-11, to No. 1 Stanford.
UM starter Dan Touchet (3-1) pitched a team-season-high, as well as career-high, 7.2 innings allowing six hits, two earned runs, two walks, six strikeouts and one hit batter.
Touchet had gone a stretch of 20 batters from the second inning till the eighth without giving up a hit to the Seminoles. During the stretch, Touchet allowed a walk, a hit by pitch and a fielder’s choice. After FSU scored two runs in the bottom of the first, Miami and Touchet held FSU in check the remainder of the way allowing just four base runners. Sophomore George Huguet earned his sixth save of the season, pitching the final inning.
Offensively, the Hurricanes were led by freshman centerfielder Danny Figueroa, who went 4-for-4 at the plate with a run scored and two RBI. The two RBI were the only two for Miami, after FSU committed three errors in the game, two of which allowed runs to score. A FSU passed ball in the first also allowed a run to come in.
FSU reliever Marc LaMacchia (5-1) went 5.0 innings of relief for starter Robby Read in taking the loss. LaMacchia allowed six hits, two runs (one earned), two walks, an intentional walk and six strikeouts. Read went the first 3.1 innings with two hits, two runs (one earned), five walks, two strikeouts, one hit batter and one wild pitch.
Miami opened the scoring, 1-0, in the first inning as Brad Safchik scored from third on a passed ball by FSU catcher Tony Richie. Safchik led off the game with a walk, stole second and moved to third on Javy Rodriguez’ sacrifice bunt.
The Seminoles went ahead in the bottom of the first, 2-1, scoring two runs on RBI singles from Ryan Barthelemy and Tony McQuade. The first run came in when Barthelemy hit a full-count grounder to right field scoring Stephen Drew from second. Bryan Zech then scored from third on McQuade’s first-pitch line drive to centerfield. Drew had led off with a walk and moved to second on Zech’s infield single to third base.
Miami tied the score, 2-2, in the fourth on Danny Figueroa’s RBI single to left field that scored Matt Dryer from second. Dryer had led off the inning getting hit by a Read pitch and moved to second on a Read wild pitch.
In the sixth, Miami went ahead, 3-2, when the relay throw on the second half of a double-play attempt was misplayed by FSU first baseman Jerrod Brown, allowing Danny Figueroa to score from second. On the play, Safchik hit a fielder’s choice grounder to second base forcing Paco Figueroa out, but the throw back to Brown hit off his glove.
The Hurricanes extended their lead, 4-2, in the seventh scoring as Dryer scored on Danny Figueroa’s RBI double off the outfield fence in right field. Dryer reached on a fielder’s choice bunt and moved to second on Kevin Mannix’ single up the middle.
Miami went ahead, 5-2, in the ninth as Howard came around to score on a fielding error by Barthelemy on a hard Jim Burt grounder. Howard earlier reached on a double.
FSU leads Miami 116-105-3 in the all-time series that began in the 1951 season. The series is the second-oldest on the UM schedule behind the Florida series (1940), but UM and FSU have played the most games (224). Miami leads FSU 33-22 during the Jim Morris era (1994-present), including a 16-13 advantage on the road in Tallahassee.
For more information on University of Miami athletics log on to its newly designed website www.hurricanesports.com, the official site for all Hurricane news, tickets and apparel. For Hurricane ticket information call 1-800-GO CANES.
