Hurricanes Continue Road Trip with Visit to FIU
April 15, 2003
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (hurricanesports.com) — The 11th-ranked Miami baseball team will finish its four-game road trip with a short trip across town to Florida International for a 7 p.m. game Wednesday, April 16th.
It will be the second meeting between the two teams after Miami won the first game 12-7 in the Hurricanes’ season opener.
Miami enters the contest with a 27-7 record after winning two of three games at Virginia over the weekend. Florida International is 28-11 on the season and 6-3 in Sun Belt Conference play. FIU split two games with Bethune-Cookman on April 3rd and 4th, losing the first game, 11-6, and earning the split with a 4-1 win in the series finale.
The student voice of the Hurricanes, WVUM 90.5 FM and WNMA 1210 AM will carry the game live on the radio. You can also listen to WVUM’s broadcast over the internet at www.wvum.org.
Miami leads the all-time series 84-20 after its win earlier this season. UM Head Coach Jim Morris is 20-10 against the Golden Panthers during his 10 years in Coral Gables, including a 4-0 mark in the postseason play.
The Hurricanes got 5.2 innings from Dan Touchet and a six-run sixth inning to cruise to a 12-7 win over FIU in the season opener. Adam Ricks got two hits, including an inside the park home run and five RBIs to pace the Canes.
Ryan Dixon will make his fifth start of the season on the mound for the Hurricanes. He has not recorded a decision in 23 innings of work with a 7.04 ERA. Dixon has struggled with his control during his sophomore campaign, walking 18 batters and hitting two more. In his last start however, he pitched a career-best six innings, allowing six hits and only three runs, while striking out six and walking six against Florida Atlantic on April 2.
Florida International will counter with right-hander Luis Gazitua who is 1-1 on the season with a 5.68 ERA. He has made two starts and pitched 31.2 innings in 11 appearances for the Golden Panthers. Gazitua has walked 16 and struck out 31, while holding opponents to a .302 batting average.
FIU is hitting .303 as a team and is led by Luis Rivera with a .383 average. He is also the team leader in RBIs with 36. Ricardo Nanita and Skipton Adams lead with six home runs each, while Yahmed Yema has five home runs. On the mound, Florida International has a 4.92 team ERA, while opponents are hitting just .254 against.
