Baseball Falls 9-3 To No. 8 Florida State
April 13, 2002
Coral Gables, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) – No. 8 Florida State (33-11) clinched the series win over Miami with a 9-3 victory over the Hurricanes (18-17) in front of 4,227 fans Saturday night at Mark Light Stadium.
Hurricane starter T.J. Prunty (4-3) earned his third straight loss going five innings, with seven hits, four earned runs, no walks and three strikeouts. FSU starter Blair Varnes (5-3) scored the win going seven innings, with five hits, three earned runs, one walk, six strikeouts and a wild pitch.
FSU got on the scoreboard in the first inning, 1-0, scoring once off a Ryan Barthelemy RBI double off the right field wall that brought Nick Rogers in from second. A batter earlier, Rogers was hit by a pitch then stole second base.
The Hurricanes tied the game in the fourth inning, 1-1, on a Kevin Howard RBI single to left scoring Danny Figueroa from second. Figueroa led off the inning with a single to left field and stole second base to move into scoring position.
The Seminoles added three runs in the fifth, 4-1, on back-to-back homeruns by Nick Rogers and Ryan Barthelemy. Bryan Zech reached first on a two-out single to centerfield and scored on Rogers’ homerun to left field. Ryan Barthelemy followed with a first-pitch homerun to right.
FSU extended its lead, 9-1, in the seventh scoring five runs off of Hurricane reliever Vince Bongiovanni, including a three-run inside-the-park homerun by Blair McCaleb. Bryan Zech started the scoring, reaching first on a walk, moving to second on an error by the pitcher and coming home on a Nick Rogers RBI single to right field. Rogers stole second and third, scoring on a throwing error by the catcher. Tony McQuade followed with a single to short and advanced to second on a walk by Jerrod Brown. McCaleb cleared the bases with the three-run homerun.
The Hurricanes cut the lead, 9-3, on a pinch-hit two-run homerun by Haas Pratt scoring Greg Dini. Dini led off with a single, pinch hitting for Danny Matienzo.
Miami and FSU conclude the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. The game can be heard live on the Internet at www.hurricanesports.com, or on the student voice of the Hurricanes, WVUM 90.5 FM. The game will also be televised on tape delay by Fox Sports Net Florida at 10 p.m.
The game started with University of Miami President Donna Shalala throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. During Shalala’s inaugural year with Miami in 1991, the Hurricanes won two National Championships in baseball and football.
Current National Football League All-Pro Marshall Faulk of the St. Louis Rams will throw out the ceremonial first pitch for Sunday afternoon’s game with the Seminoles. Faulk has an impressive five Pro Bowl invitations in his seven-year career. He was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year in 2000 after establishing the league record for touchdowns in a season (26).
For more information on Miami Hurricanes sports, news, tickets and apparel log on to www.hurricanesports.com. For information on Hurricane tickets call the UM ticket box office at 1-800 GO CANES.
