Hurricanes Clash With FIU In Cross-Town Rivalry Tonight
March 23, 2005
CORAL GABLES (www.hurricanesports.com) – Bragging rights are on the line Wednesday night when the seventh-ranked Miami Hurricanes (20-5, 7-2 ACC) swing next door to University Park to play city rival Florida International (18-7, 0-0 Sun Belt) at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on the Miami Hurricanes’ flagship station WQAM (560 AM), the Student Voice of UM, WVUM (90.5 FM), and in Spanish on WNMA (1260 AM).
The two teams met in Miami’s season-opener on Feb. 1, a 7-0 `Canes win. UM junior ace Cesar Carrillo gave up one hit to the Panthers in six innings of work and the Hurricanes broke the game open with a five-run sixth inning.
Miami has won eight of its last nine and is averaging 10 runs per game in that span. The Hurricanes are 3-3 on the road this season but have not won at University Park since edging FIU 6-4 on April 16, 2004. The Golden Panthers have won 15 of their 18 games at University Park this season. Although Miami holds a 85-23 series lead, including the Feb. 1 win, the teams have split the last 10 games. Thirty-seven of the games between the two schools have been decided by two runs or less.
The two head coaches have nearly 2,200 career wins between them (UM’s Jim Morris – 1,177; FIU’s Danny Price – 1,004) and 47 players from the state of Florida, most of which are from the Miami area, dot the rosters of both teams.
Wednesday’s pitching matchup also has a bit of history to it, at least for UM lefty starter Brandon Camardese (2-0, 5.51). Camardese gave up four runs in four innings in his collegiate debut at FIU on Feb. 6, 2002. He threw against FIU later that same season, pitching 4.2 innings of relief and striking out six in a 9-7 loss on May 2. Barring a postseason matchup, this is Camardese’s last shot at a win against the Golden Panthers. Freshman Elih Villanueva takes the mound for FIU and sports a 5-1 record and a 1.54 ERA.
Both pitchers are coming off their best performances of the season. Camardese threw 5.0 innings and gave up just two hits, no runs, with three walks and three strikeouts last week against Rutgers to up his season record to 2-0. Villanueva also pitched against Rutgers his last game out and threw a four-hit, complete-game shutout, striking out 13.
The momentum both pitchers gathered in games against Rutgers will need to carry over Wednesday night to keep at least one team from putting double digits on the scoreboard. Miami is batting .344 as a team and has scored at least 10 runs in six of its last eight wins. Villanueva will be tested against Miami’s 1-5 hitters, who are all batting above .350.
The Golden Panthers have shown that they can swing the bats and carrry a .306 average into the game. FIU is dangerous when it gets on the base paths and has stolen safely on 73-of-91 attempts (76.3 percent) to rank second in the NCAA this season.
