Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Feb. 11, 2004
The top-ranked Miami Hurricanes open their season Friday against 15th-ranked Florida at 7 p.m. at Mark Light Field.
The game will be televised by Sunshine Network with Frank Forte and Nick Belmonte providing analysts. The game will also be carried on radio by WQAM (560 AM), WMNA (1210 AM) and WVUM (90.5 FM). Saturday’s game will be carried by WVUM, while Sunday’s contest will be broadcast on WQAM and WVUM.
The Hurricanes are the nation’s top-ranked team by Collegiate Baseball, an honor shared with the defending national champion Rice Owls. UM is ranked second in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll and third by Baseball America.
Former UM great Pat Burrell will be on hand Friday night to have his No. 11 jersey retired. Burrell’s No. 11 will join 10 other Hurricane greats on the outfield wall. His name is littered throughout the Miami record books.
Burrell is second all time at UM with 61 career home runs, second in career total bases (465), fifth in RBI (187), fourth in walks (170) and has the best career batting average in the school’s history at .442. He is also second all time in single season home runs (23, 1996), total bases (182, 1996) and walks (87, 1997).
The Hurricanes surprised most of the country with head coach Jim Morris’ eighth trip to the College World Series in 2003 with a young and inexperienced team.
In 2004, Miami returns all of its position starters, including 10 players that made at least 29 starts last season. The UM pitching staff is also intact, with its top four starters and entire bullpen returning.
The Gators visit Coral Gables with a 2-0 record after sweeping Gardner-Webb, 14-0 and 8-4, last weekend. Florida is ranked 15th by Collegiate Baseball, 19th in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll and 20th by Baseball America.
Miami ended Florida’s 2003 season with a 13-10 win in the Coral Gables Regional Championship Game. UF and Miami split four games last season. The two teams played in mid-February in Gainesville with UM winning the opener 9-2 and Florida taking the second game 5-3. The series finale in Gainesville was rained out.
The Hurricanes lead the all-time series between the two teams 111-84-1, including a 103-81-1 mark in regular-season play. UM is 24-19 against the Gators in Morris’ tenure at the University of Miami.