No. 15 Virginia Visits Mark Light Field to Face Hurricanes
April 21, 2004
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The fourth-ranked Miami Hurricanes host Atlantic Coast Conference leader Virginia in a three-game series at Mark Light Field beginning Friday, April 23, at 7 p.m.
The series continues Saturday, April 24, at 7 p.m. and concludes Sunday, April 25, at 1 p.m. All three games will be broadcast on WVUM (90.5 FM), the student voice of the Hurricanes. Miami’s Spanish broadcast partner WMNA (1210 AM) will also carry Saturday’s contest.
It will be the second straight season the two programs have faced each other on the baseball diamond with Miami winning two-of-three games in Charlottesville last April.
The Hurricanes enter the series with a 28-8 record after taking four-of-six games from then-No. 14 Florida State.
No. 15 Virginia has a 33-7 record and has won a school-record 13 straight games. The Cavaliers sport a 14-4 ACC record to lead the conference. UVa is in search of its third ACC title, and its first since 1985.
LHP J.D. Cockroft, coming off his best performance of the season last Friday against Florida State, gets the call to the hill on Friday night. He is 3-3 on the season with a 2.52 ERA. UVa left-hander Andrew Dobies will counter Cockroft. He is 6-0 with a 1.83 ERA for the Cavaliers this season.
Right-hander Cesar Carrillo will go to the mound for UM on Saturday. He is 6-0 on the season with a 3.10 ERA and two saves. RHP Matt Avery will put his 4-1 record and 2.64 ERA on the line against the Hurricanes.
The series finale on Sunday features Miami lefty Brandon Camardese (4-1, 3.92 ERA) against UVa left-handed pitcher Joe Koshansky (6-1, 2.38 ERA). Koshansky also doubles as the Cavaliers first baseman and leading home run hitter with 12 on the season.
Virginia hits .294 as a team with a .417 slugging percentage. On the mound, the Cavaliers have a 3.02 team ERA and are holding opponents to a .255 batting average. Along with their stable of veteran starting pitchers, UVa has Casey Lambert (3-1, 2.59 ERA, 5 saves) to handle the closing duties.
The Hurricanes lead the all-time series 5-2 and hold a 3-1 edge at Mark Light Field. UM won the first two games last season, 6-1 and 10-4, before dropping the finale, 17-2.
