Unbeaten Baseball Tops No. 1 Florida 7-2
June 1, 2002
Gainesville, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) – – The third-seeded Miami Hurricanes (32-26), behind the pitching of starter Kiki Bengochea, defeated host and No. 1-seeded Florida (44-18), 7-2, in the second day winners bracket game in front of 4,125 fans Saturday afternoon at the NCAA Gainesville Regional at Alfred A. McKethen Stadium.
Miami remained undefeated in NCAA play and was set to face the winner of the Saturday nightcap between Florida and Bethune-Cookman on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Gators rebounded from their loss to Miami and slugged out a 21-10 win over the Wildcats. The two teams will now meet on Sunday at 1 p.m. A possible second game is scheduled for one hour to follow. Bethune-Cookman earned the right to face the Gators by ousting Florida International in the morning game by a score of 7-1.
Bengochea (6-6) scored the win vs. UF Saturday afternoon by tying his season-high with 8.0 innings pitched with six hits, two earned runs, three walks, six strikeouts and two hit batters in 127 pitches thrown. Hurricanes closer George Huguet finished off the ninth for UM retiring the side 1-2-3.
Florida ace Alex Hart (13-3) took just his third loss in allowing nine hits, five runs (two earned), four walks, five strikeouts and one wild pitch in 110 pitches over 5.1 innings. Reliever David Bartelt went the remaining 2.2 innings for UF with four hits, two runs (one earned), no walks or strikeouts.
Miami broke the 1-1 tie in the sixth, as the Hurricanes batted around in the order scoring five runs on five hits and one costly UF error. Kevin Mannix started the momentum swing as he led off with a single to left field. Danny Figueroa followed with a sacrifice bunt pushing Mannix to second. Twin brother Paco Figueroa would then fly to left field but Aaron Sobieraj dropped the catch to allow Mannix to continue to third and Paco to second. Immediately after Brad Safchik scored both with his single up the middle for the 3-1 advantage.
Javy Rodriguez kept the offense going with a first-pitch single to left field, but Kevin Howard was forced into the second out of the inning a fly to centerfield. After Hart was replaced with Bartelt, Danny Matienzo took a 0-2 pitch over the batting cage in right center for the 6-1 margin.
Sobieraj got back a run in the eighth with a solo home run off Bengochea to left center to bring the Gators within 6-2.
Matienzo continued with his offense as he knocked in Howard from second with a single to right field. Howard had doubled earlier and doing so tied Mike Fiore’s school-record 65th career double.
The Hurricanes for the second straight day opened the scoring, 1-0, as Rodriguez came in on a Hart wild pitch in the third. Rodriguez had led off with a single to right center and stole second. He then moved to third on Jim Burt’s ground out to second.
The Gators tied the game, 1-1, in the fifth when Bengochea walked Pat Osborn with bases loaded to score Brian Rose from third. With one out, Rose doubled to right field. After Matt Goss drew a walk, Aaron Davidson loaded the bases with a single up the middle.
Miami’s 2002 NCAA tournament appearance can be heard over the Internet at www.hurricanesports.com, or on the student voice of the Hurricanes, WVUM 90.5 FM. Additionally, the flagship stations of the Miami Hurricanes, Sports Radio 560 WQAM and UM’s Spanish Broadcast Network will also be covering the action on WWFE 1550 AM.
For ticket information, please contact the University of Florida box office at 1-800-344-2867, x16800. gatorzone.com
For more information on the NCAA Regionals, visit ncaa.org
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.
Game Notes
— Javy Rodriguez’ first inning sacrifice bunt was his 39th career total sacrifice tying for No. 4 all-time on the UM list with Howie Shapiro (1976-79).
— Danny Matienzo’s sixth inning home run was his second on the weekend and team leading 16th on the season. The shot to right center was also his career No. 38, moving him into a seventh-place tie with Charles Johnson (1990-92). The home run was also Matienzo’s ninth in the postseason over the last three seasons. Matienzo hit two as a freshman in 2000, along with five in 2001 as a sophomore.
— Howard’s double in the eighth inning was his team-leading 23rd on the season, tying for 6th all-time in a single season. Howard also had a team-best 22 doubles as a freshman in 2000. He led the team, as well, in 2001 as a sophomore with 20 doubles. Additionally, the double moved him into a first-place tie for the school-record with Jose Trujillo (1985-88).
— The victory marked the Hurricanes 11th straight in the postseason dating back to the 2001 NCAA tournament where UM swept through nine games en route to the CWS title. The win also was UM’s 2002 season-high seventh straight.
— The victory also extended UM’s streak to 6-0 in Saturday games away from Mark Light Stadium in 2002.
— UM is now 92-30 (.754) in NCAA regional play all-time, as well as 28-20 (.583) in regional road games. UM has a 140-62 (.693) all-time postseason record.
— UM moves to 8-1 all-time over Florida in the postseason.
— UM leads the series with Florida 108-82-1 dating back to the 1940 season, including a 21-16 mark under Head Coach Jim Morris. UM is also 167-117-1 all-time against schools currently in the Southeastern Conference.
— Brad Safchik’s two-RBI single in the sixth gave the Hurricanes a 3-1 lead, which they never relinquished, was his fifth game-winning hit of the season.
