Hurricane Baseball Visits FIU on Thursday Night
Feb. 25, 2004
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The University of Miami baseball team will take a mini tour of South Florida over the next four games. The Hurricanes open their road trip with cross-town rival Florida International (4-7) on Thursday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. at University Park on the FIU campus.
UM will then venture to Homestead to take on the Golden Panthers once again at 7:30 p.m. in the Papa John’s Homestead Challenge. The 7:30 p.m. start time is a change from the 7 p.m. first pitch originally scheduled. Miami will play its second game in the Homestead Challenge on Saturday at the Homestead Sports Complex against LaSalle at 7 p.m.
The Hurricanes then return home to the friendly confines of Mark Light Field Sunday to welcome 25th-ranked Minnesota.
J.D. Cockroft will be UM’s Thursday night starter. Cockroft is 0-1 on the season with a 4.00 ERA. Vince Bongiovanni will get the start against FIU in Homestead on Friday. He is 1-0 on the season with a team-leading 2.79 ERA. Brandon Camardese (1-0, 4.00 ERA) will go to the hill against LaSalle on Saturday.
Dan Touchet will get the call on Sunday, marking his first start in 373 days. His last start came against San Diego State on Feb. 21, 2003, before undergoing ‘Tommy John’ surgery in early March of last year.
Touchet has made three appearances in relief in 2004. He has thrown nine innings, allowing nine hits and four runs.
The Hurricanes’ two games in the Papa John’s Homestead Challenge will mark the school’s 14th and 15th appearances in the tournament. Miami is 12-1 at the event, including a 10-9 win over Harvard in 10 innings last season.
The Hurricanes enter this weekend with a .314 team batting average. Gaby Sanchez is leading the way for UM with a .368 average, while Richard Giannotti is just behind at .364. Miami is slugging .515 as a team and has stolen 12-of-15 bases.
The pitching staff sports a 4.83 ERA in 54 innings of work with opponents hitting .258. UM is striking out eight batters per nine innings, while allowing five walks per nine innings.
