Hurricanes and Huskies Meet Tonight At Mark Light Field
March 2, 2005
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) – Miami (10-3) and Northeastern (2-2) meet for the 10th time at Mark Light Field on Wednesday, March 2. UM sophomore Ricky Orta is scheduled to make his first career start, beginning with a 7 p.m. first pitch.
Orta (1-1, 4.70 ERA) will be throwing against NU sophomore Adam Ottivino (0-1, 2.08 ERA).
The #6/11/9 Hurricanes ended a three-game series against George Washington with a 16-3 win last Sunday and are riding the high from a 9-7 win against the Florida Marlins on Tuesday. Six of those runs came against Marlins’ starter Dontrelle Willis.
Miami is batting .348 as a team, with its 1-5 hitters all batting above .400. Sophomore leftfielder Jon Jay leads the Hurricanes’ hitting barrage with a .531 average. While Jay provides unmatched consistency at the plate, junior cleanup hitter Ryan Braun has provided unmatched power. Braun leads the team with six home runs (all at Mark Light Field), 24 RBIs, 23 runs and a .898 slugging pct.Danny Figueroa is batting .405 in the leadoff spot with a .478 on-base pct. Paco Figueroa follows in the order and is hitting .440 with 22 runs, three triples and a team-best 10 stolen bases. First baseman Danny Valencia has come on strong the last five games and is batting .408 with 16 RBIs.
UM’s 6-9 hitters have stepped up in the last four games, led by two freshmen, second baseman Walter Diaz and catcher Alex Garabedian. Diaz and Garabedian are batting a combined 11-24 (.458) in that time and seem to be finding their niche in the college game.
Northeastern will be playing its fifth game in as many days, including a doubleheader against Mt. St. Mary’s yesterday. Overall, the team has pitched well, with its staff holding a 1.85 ERA and limiting opponents to .205 at the plate. First baseman Miguel Paquette and second baseman Brian Nutting lead the team with a .429 average. Ottavino allowed only one earned run in the Huskies’ season-opening loss to Northwestern.
Miami has begun a trend of jumping on its opponents early, scoring 22.4 percent of its runs in the first inning and have outscored their opponents, 26-12 in the first inning.
