Orta's Arm And Katin's Glove Push Miami To 3-0 Win Against Pittsburgh
March 8, 2005
Coral Gables, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) – Sophomore pitcher Ricky Orta pitched six scoreless innings of two-hit ball to lead Miami (14-4, 2-1 ACC) to its first shutout since the season opener in a 3-0 win against Pittsburgh (5-3, 0-0 BIG EAST) Tuesday night at Mark Light Field.
Orta (3-1) has been dominant in his two starts this season, the first two of his career. He pitched 5.1 innings and gave up one hit and one run against Northeastern in a 6-1 win last Wednesday and has given up only three hits in 11.1 innings as a starter this season.
Pittsburgh starter Billy Muldowney (0-1) pitched seven innings and gave up nine hits, three runs, two earned runs and struck out 10 Hurricanes in the loss.
Miami sophomore first baseman Danny Valencia played a part in all three Hurricane runs and finished the night with two doubles, two RBIs and a run scored. Shortstop Roger Tomas went 2 for 3 with one RBI and freshman Walter Diaz added two hits in three at-bats.
The Hurricanes scored all they would need in a two-run first inning off Muldowney. UM junior Danny Figueroa led off the Miami first with a double down the left field line. Left fielder Jon Jay extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a single to center to put runners at the corners with no outs. Valencia followed Ryan Braun’s strikeout with a two-run double to center for a 2-0 lead.
Valencia led off the sixth with a double and advanced to third on a fielding error by Panther right fielder Peter Parise. Tomas brought Valencia in with a shot off UP first baseman Daniel Ford’s glove for a 3-0 UM lead.
While the Hurricane offense gave Miami an early lead, it was the UM defense, led by right fielder Brendan Katin, that maintained it. Katin made a sliding, back-handed grab on Jimmy Mayer’s first-inning drive to the right-center gap and threw to first to double-off Ben Copeland for the first two outs of the game. Katin made another spectacular play in the second when he stole a home run from Michael Megale with a leaping grab above the right field wall to end the inning.
Katin’s double play in the first was one of five for the Hurricanes on the night, the most the team has had in a game since it posted five twin kills against Florida State on June 4, 1995.
Junior Andrew Lane and senior Vince Bongiovanni pitched the seventh and eighth innings before handing the ball off to Danny Gil, who picked up his third save of the season with a scoreless ninth.
Miami will play Quinnipiac in the Bobcats’ season opener on Wednesday, March 9 at Mark Light Field. The first pitch is set for 7 p.m.
