Hurricanes Tangle With Texas in CWS Opener
June 10, 2003
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami will face defending national champion Texas in the College World Series on Saturday, June 14, at 7:05 p.m. (EDT) at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb., on ESPN.
The Hurricanes (44-15-1) are making their 20th trip to the College World Series and will be looking for their fifth national championship. Miami has brought the title back to Coral Gables the last two times they made the trip to Omaha (1999, 2001).
Texas (48-18) won it all last year for its fifth national title with a 12-6 win over South Carolina.
Miami and Texas will be joined in a bracket with Southwest Missouri State and No. 5 national seed Rice.
The Miami and Texas all-time series is tied at 19-19. The postseason series is tied at 4-4 and the two teams have both won three games apiece at the College World Series.
Miami knocked off the Longhorns in 1985, 10-6, to claim the school’s second national championship.
All of the Hurricanes games can be heard on Miami’s three radio stations, WQAM (560 AM), the student voice of the Hurricanes (WVUM 90.5 FM) and spanish radio (1210 AM).
The Hurricanes bring a young team to Omaha with only three holdovers from the 2001 postseason roster (Jim Burt, George Huguet and Andrew Cohn).
UM’s starter in Saturday’s showdown with Texas, J.D. Cockroft, pitched for Miami in 2001, but wasn’t on the postseason roster. Cockroft, a left-hander, is 11-2 on the season with a 2.65 ERA in 115.2 innings.
Miami starts two freshmen, five sophomores and two juniors. Freshman Ryan Braun leads the Hurricanes offensively with a .374 batting average, 17 home runs, 74 RBIs and a .691 slugging percentage.
Texas counters with an outstanding pitching staff that sports a 3.43 team ERA. J.P. Howell, a left-handed sophomore, leads the way with a 9-2 record and a 2.34 ERA. At the plate, the Longhorns are hitting .305 as a team and scoring seven runs per game. Dustin Majewski leads the team with a .394 batting average, 12 home runs and 82 RBIs.
The general public can purchase tickets through the College World Series at (402) 554-4404. Single-session tickets (June 13 – June 18) are $21 for box seats, $16 reserved seats and $7 for general admission. Tickets for the championship sessions are $29 for box seats and $23 for reserved seating.
