Hurricanes Sweep Aztecs with a 6-3 Win
Feb. 23, 2003
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami baseball team completed a three-game sweep of San Diego State with a 6-3 win over the Aztecs in front of 1,765 fans Sunday afternoon at Mark Light Field.
“Every time they would score a run, we would answer right back in the bottom half of the inning,” Head Coach Jim Morris said. “We just kept coming back, and that shows you a lot about the character of this team. It was good to get a sweep of a quality team like San Diego State.”
The Hurricanes improved to 7-2 with the win, while San Diego State fell to 5-8.
UM reliever J.D. Cockroft picked up the win to improve to 2-0 on the season in six appearances, while lowering his ERA to 1.20 over 15 innings of work. Starter Brandon Camardese pitched 5.1 solid innings, allowing five hits and one run, while striking out three Aztec batters in a no decision.
Offensively, Jim Burt capped off a great weekend with a 2-for-3 performance, including a home run and an RBI. Burt was 7-for-10 over the three game series with two home runs and three RBI.
With the infield drawn in, freshman Ryan Braun ripped a single past the shortstop to put Miami back on top for good in the eighth inning. After back-to-back walks to Jim Burt and Brian Barton, Erick San Pedro hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Braun and give UM a 5-3 lead. Miami tacked on another run when Allen tried to pick Burt off third base and threw the ball into left field to score Burt.
Adam Ricks doubled to lead off the bottom half of the eighth inning. Aztecs’ pitcher Will Miller then uncorked a wild pitch to allow Ricks to move up to third base before Braun’s single.
Burt continued his torrid pace at the plate in the fifth inning, staking Miami to a 1-0 lead with his fourth home run of the season.
With the wind blowing in, Burt hit the first pitch he saw off the scoreboard in left field. At the time of the home run, he had Miami’s only two hits of the day after singling in the second inning. With two outs in the fifth inning, Shannon collected his first hit as a Hurricane with a line-drive single to left field.
With a 1-0 lead, Camardese returned to the mound for his sixth inning of work. Anthony Gwynn and James Guerrero opened the inning with back-to-back singles. Camardese then retired Peter Stonard before giving way to freshman Marcelo Albir.
Gwynn and Guerrero moved up on a double steal to put runners on second and third with one out. Pinch hitter Rielly Embrey picked up his eighth RBI of the season, grounding out to first base to score Gwynn and tying the score at 1-1.
The Hurricanes got the run back in the bottom half of the inning, as a leadoff single by Danny Figueroa came around to score. Figueroa stole second base, his team-high sixth of the season, and moved to third base on a ground ball to second from Ricks. He would score on a past ball by SDSU catcher Josh Allen.
It didn’t take long for the Aztecs to answer as third baseman Chad Corona homered to right field to open the seventh inning off UM reliever Shawn Valdes-Fauli. Corona entered the game in the fifth inning when Ryan Wilson fouled a pitch off his knee and was forced to leave the game.
After collecting the first hit of his Miami career in the fifth inning, Tom Shannon delivered again in the seventh with a two-out double underneath the glove of the left fielder to score Brian Barton and give UM a 3-2 lead.
Miami will venture to Jupiter, Fla., on Wednesday, Feb. 26, to take on the Florida Marlins in exhibition action at Roger Dean Stadium. The game will be carried on WVUM 90.5 FM beginning at 3:05 p.m. The Hurricanes will then return to Mark Light Field for a three-game series with The Citadel beginning on Friday at 7 p.m. Saturday’s game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. first pitch, while Sunday’s series finale will get under way at 1 p.m.
