Miami Baseball Travels to Florida
Feb. 13, 2003
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Game 5: Miami (3-1)at Florida (2-0)Friday, Feb. 14, 6:30 p.m. (McKethan Stadium)Radio: WVUM (90.5 FM)Television: NoneProbable Starting PitchersUM: #31 Dan Touchet, RHP (0-0, 6.35 ERA)UF: #23 Connor Falkenbach, RHP (1-0, 5.40 ERA)
Game 6: Miami at Florida
Saturday, Feb. 15, 2 p.m. (McKethan Stadium)Radio: WVUM (90.5 FM)Television: NoneProbable Starting PitchersUM: #34 Vince Bongiovanni, LHP (1-0, 0.00 ERA)UF: #21 Justin Hoyman, RHP (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Game 7: Miami at Florida
Sunday, Feb. 16, 1 p.m. (McKethan Stadium)Radio: WQAM (560 AM); WVUM (90.5 FM)Television: NoneProbable Starting Pitchers:UM: #18 Brandon Camardese (1-0, 1.80 ERA)UF: #27 Mike Pete, LHP (first start)
Hurricanes Travel to Gainesville to Face Gators
After opening the season with a four-game homestand, Miami (3-1, 14/NR/12) travels to Gainesville to face a Florida Gators team that is 2-0 following the first weekend of play. It is the Hurricanes’ first trip to Gainesville since clamining a regional title last June. Jim Burt doubled home the Kevin Howard and Joey Hooft with two strikes and two outs in the bottom of the ninth for the win. UM posted three wins to open the season, including an impressive 12-7 win over Florida International in the season opener. The Hurricanes then blasted Campbell 13-2 and 10-3 before dropping the final game of the series, 12-9, in 10 innings. Florida opened with 15-5 and 22-2 wins over Mercer before the series finale was rained out. The Gators hit Mercer pitching hard, scoring 37 runs in the two-game set and hitting .429 as a team. C.J. Smith paced UF with an .800 batting average with four hits in five at bats, including two home runs and six RBI. UF’s Connor Falkenbach pitched five innings in game one, giving up six hits and three earned runs. The Gators’ game two starter, Justin Hoyman also went five innings, but held Mercer without an earned run, while only allowing three hits. Miami leads the all-time series between the two teams 109-83-1 after the Hurricanes took two of three from the Gators at the Gainesville Regional to advance to the Columbia (S.C.) Super Regional. Florida is expected to start Connor Falkenbach for Friday’s opener. He is 1-0 on the season with a 5.40 ERA. Saturday the Gators will send right-hander Justin Hoyman (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will take the hill, while Mike Pete will go to the mound on Sunday in the series finale.
Leading Off The UM Rotation – Right-hander Dan Touchet will get the call on the mound in the series opener against Florida. Touchet is coming off of a no decision in UM’s season opener against FIU where he went 5.2 innings, allowing four runs, while striking out five. Left-hander Vince Bongiovanni (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will take the hill in Saturday’s game. The sophomore was almost untouchable Feb. 6 against Campbell, as the Fighting Camels managed only one hit and no runs in six innings of work. He also recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts against CU, while walking only two. Another sophomore, Brandon Camardese, is scheduled to start the series finale on Sunday. He went five innings in a 10-3 win over Campbell on Feb. 7 night. Camardese enters his start with a 1-0 record and a 1.80 ERA.
Closing – J.D. Cockroft will handle the closer’s role during the first portion of the season with junior George Huguet out with a sore shoulder. The junior won the Ron Fraser Award, as chosen by the coaching staff, as the Hurricanes’ top pitcher a year ago. Cockroft went 5-0 with a team-best 2.22 ERA in 24.1 innings of work. He made 28 appearances, striking out 15 and holding the opponent’s batting average to a team-low .190. Cockroft is 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA after two appearances so far in 2003.
Captains Named – Jim Burt and J.D. Cockroft were named captains, by a vote of their teammates, prior to the Hurricanes’ annual showdown with the Alumni on Feb. 1. It is the second straight selection for Burt, who served as a captain as a sophomore on last year’s squad. He will make the move to first base on a permanent basis this season after spending most of last season in the outfield where he hit .322. Cockroft, a junior, went 5-0 last season with a team-best 2.22 ERA. He made 28 appearances and pitched 24.1 innings.
Figueroa X2 – Identical twins Danny and Paco Figueroa return for their sophomore campaigns, starting in centerfield and at shortstop, respectively, for the second straight year. The duo hit an identical .300 as freshman, while Danny collected 57 hits and Paco compiled 60. The pair also had an almost identical on-base percentage with Danny at .401 and Paco at .397. Paco cut his hair this year to make it a little easier for everyone to tell them apart, while Danny still sports the longer locks in center. The two are off to another hot start in 2003 with Paco hitting .500, while Danny is batting .438.
Morris coaches 1,500th Overall Game – Miami Head Coach Jim Morris coached in his 1,500th overall game on Feb. 7 against the Campbell Fighting Camels, picking up a 10-3 win. Morris has now coached 580 games during his 10 years at Miami. He coached 749 games at Georgia Tech and 172 DeKalb Community College. He holds an overall record of 1,065-434-2 (.710) during his 26 seasons coaching at the college level.
UM Completes Homestand with a 3-1 Record
Miami opened the 2003 season last week, going 3-1 during a four-game homestand that included an opening night win over FIU. UM then took two of three games against Campbell, losing the series finale 12-9 in 10 innings. Junior right-hander Dan Touchet didn’t pick up a decision in the Hurricanes’ win over FIU, but he did pitch five strong innings before getting in trouble with two outs in the sixth. He allowed four earned runs on seven hits. J.D. Cockroft came in to close out the sixth and ended up finishing the game to get the win. Five Hurricanes collected at least two hits with newcomes Adam Ricks and Brian Barton leading the way. Ricks went 2-for-4 with a home run and five RBI, while Barton went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a triple. Left-hander Vince Bongiovanni was the story in the series opener against Campbell. The sophomore pitched 6.0 innings of scoreless one-hit baseball, while striking out a career-high 10 Campbell hitters. CU hitters managed only three hits all night against four Miami hurlers. At the plate it was a team effort as four Hurricanes collected multiple hits in a 14-hit attack. UM won its third game of the season Friday night, 10-3, over Campbell in front of a Fox Sports Net Florida broadcast. The Hurricanes pounded out 13 hits, as Ryan Bruan hit the first home run of his career. Sophomore Brandon Camardese picked up the first win of his UM career, scattering two hits and one run over five innings. After falling behind 4-0, Miami rallied in the bottom of the sixth for four runs to take a 6-4 lead. UM held a two-run lead into the bottom of the ninth before three hits and a sacrifice fly tied the game at 7-7. Campbell then scored five runs in the 10th inning. With two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning, a patient Miami squad was able to score two runs, but Brian Barton left the bases loaded with a fly ball out to right field to end the game.
Scouting Florida
Florida enters the three-game series with a 2-0 record after the Gators first weekend of play. UF defeated Mercer 15-5 in the series opener and 22-2 in game two. The third game was cancelled due to rain. UF is coming off of a 46-19 record in 2002 and a 20-10 mark in conference play, finishing second in the SEC East. Florida was the No. 1 seed in the Gainesville Regional that Miami won on a two-out, two-strike double by Jim Burt in the ninth. The Gators are expected to start right-hander Connor Falkenbach in the opener. He is 1-0 on the young season with a 5.40 ERA. He pitched five innings allowing six hits and three earned runs in the Gators 15-5 win over Mercer. UF’s Saturday starter is right-hander Justin Hoyman, who is also 1-0 on the season, picking up the win in Florida’s 22-2 win last Saturday. Left-hander Mike Pete will make his first start of the season in the series finale on Sunday. At the plate the Gators are paced by SEC Player of the Week Stephen Barton, who went 6-for-10 against Mercer with one home run and eight RBI from his designated hitter spot. C.J. Smith also had an outstanding series against Mercer, collecting four hits in five at bats, including two home runs and six RBI. He enters the Miami series with a slugging percentage of 2.200. Seven UF hitters enter Friday’s game with at least a .500 batting average, while the team is hitting .429. The Florida infield is made up of Smith at first base with Matt Graziano and Brett Dowdy patrolling the middle infield at shortstop and second base. Justin Tordi made both starts at third base against Mercer. Matt Cresap is behind the plate for UF. He enters the game with a .500 batting average. In the outfield, the Gators could use Ben Harrison (.500), Mario Garza (.500), Jeff Corsaletti (.429) or Jake Riordan (.333) throughout the outfield.
A look at the Polls
Miami enters the 2003 season ranked in the top 25 in three of four college baseball polls. Collegiate Baseball has UM ranked at No. 14. The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association has the Hurricanes slotted at No. 12, while the Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches’ Poll has Miami at No. 21. Defending national champion Texas heads the list, tabbed the top choice by Collegiate Baseball, Sports Weekly/ESPN and the NCBWA. Georgia Tech was the top choice by Baseball America. UT, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Rice and Southern California were a consensus among the top five.
A Look Back at the 2002 Gainesville Regional
The Hurricanes advanced to the Super Regional round after defeating host and No. 1-seeded Florida, 8-7, in a deciding second game Sunday, June 2, 2002 at McKethan Stadium after falling earlier in the day to the Gators, 11-10, in 10 innings. Miami sophomore Jim Burt sealed the comeback win over the rival Gators in the decisive game No. 2 with a bottom of the ninth, two-out, two-strike walk-off two-run double to the gap in right center. Earlier in the day, UF’s Mark Kiger hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th that handed UF the 11-10 win and extra game. Also in that earlier game, Burt belted a two-out three-run homer in the top of the ninth that eventually forced the game into extra innings. Miami opened up regional play with a 9-1 victory over cross-town rival Florida International. UM then sent the Gators to the losers bracket with a 7-2 defeat over All-American pitcher Alex Hart. Florida defeated Bethune-Cookman in its first game, while the Wildcats turned around and ousted FIU in the loser’s bracket but would once again fall to the Gators to get eliminated. Under Jim Morris, UM has earned a bid to the postseason in each of his nine seasons and continued his personal streak to 18 straight, including his final nine while at Georgia Tech. Within Miami’s 31 postseason appearances, the Hurricanes have had to travel to road regionals 13 times, winning five of them.
Freshman Making an Impact
True freshman Gaby Sanchez and Ryan Braun are making a big impact for the Hurricanes in 2003. Braun is leading Miami’s everyday players with a .571 batting average and is among six players to homer for the Hurricanes. He has a team-high eight hits in his four starts, while scoring three runs. The Granada Hills, Calif., native is also second on the team in slugging percentage (.786) and on-base percentage (.647). Sanchez is out of Miami’s Brito Private High School, where he was the 1A-4A Player of the Year in Dade County as a senior. He is hitting .375 in his four starts at shortstop for the Hurricanes. Sanchez has six hits in 16 at bats, including one home run. He is tied for the team lead in RBI with nine. He was instrumental in UM’s 10-3 over Campbell last Friday night, going 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI.
UM-San Diego State Game Moved
The series finale between Miami and San Diego State on Sunday, Feb. 23 has been moved from 1 p.m. to noon. The move was made to accommodate the Aztecs’ travel plans. San Diego State is under the first-year direction of former perennial major league All-Star Tony Gwynn. The series will open on Friday, Feb. 21, with a 7 p.m. contest at Mark Light Field. Saturday’s game is scheduled for 7 p.m. first pitch, as well.
