Feb. 2, 2006
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The 16th-ranked Miami Hurricanes, fresh off a home-and-home sweep of local rival Florida International, will take on Big South Conference preseason favorite Winthrop in a three-game series beginning with a 2 p.m. first pitch at Mark Light Field on Friday, Feb. 3. The teams will play again on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 1 p.m. and close out the series on Sunday, Feb. 5 at 1 p.m.
All three games will be broadcast locally by the Student Voice of UM, WVUM (90.5 FM). Saturday’s game will be broadcast on a tape delay on the radio, but will be live on the Internet at www.wvum.org.
Miami leads the all-time series, 3-0, sweeping the only other series in 1999.
UM will have to play with as much fire as it did in its 17-3 season-opening win against FIU last Saturday if it wants to beat Winthrop. WU returns seven starters from the 2005 squad that went 44-22 and won the conference championship. The Eagles are preseason favorites to repeat and feature the Big South Conference Preseason Player of the Year, junior pitcher/outfielder Heath Rollins.
The projected Hurricane starters, sophomore Carlos Gutierrez, lefty Manny Miguelez and junior Sunday starter Danny Gil have combined to pitch 13 innings this season and have given up just six hits, no runs, and struck out nine with only three walks.
Gutierrez (1-0, 0.00 ERA), who pitched five innings of one-hit ball in Miami’s opener, is scheduled to face Rollins on Friday afternoon, in what will be Winthrop’s season opener. Rollins compiled an 11-6 record last season with a 3.33 ERA and 114 strikeouts in 129-plus innings. He was also one of WU’s best hitters last season, averaging .341 at the plate with three triples, two home runs, 29 RBI and a team-best 29 stolen bases.
Miguelez (1-0, 0.00 ERA), who gave up five hits in six solid innings last Sunday against FIU, will face another southpaw for the second consecutive start on Saturday. Winthrop senior Chase Edwards is one of the Eagles’ most experienced pitchers, with valuable experience in his three previous seasons with the team. Last year he went 1-2 with an 8.62 ERA in 12 appearances.
Gil (0-0, 0.00 ERA) pitched two innings in UM’s 5-0 win last Sunday against FIU, striking out one. He has 54 career appearances, but Sunday will be his first-ever start. After grinding out the 2005 season fighting through injuries, Gil has regained the form that earned him an 8-0 record and Freshman All-America honors in the 2004 season. He will face freshman Alex Wilson, who will be making his first career start in the series finale. Wilson was the 2005 West Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year and also plays third base for the Eagles.
While Miami’s pitching staff was keeping runs off the board last weekend, the lineup was putting them on. Miami’s 17 runs last Saturday was the most in an opener since the team routed Barry 25-0 in 1996.
UM’s starting lineup, featuring five newcomers, and an entire bench full of newcomers, made a good first impression. The Hurricnaes pounded-out 19 hits, 13 by those playing in their first game in a Hurricane uniform. Thirteen of the team’s 17 runs batted in were from Hurricane newcomers, including home runs by senior Tommy Giles and junior Gus Menendez. Giles led the way for the UM rookies, going 3-5 with five RBIs and three runs scored, including a three-run home run in the fifth inning. Freshman leadoff hitter Blake Tekotte drove in three RBIs and catcher Richard O’Brien went 3-for-3 coming off the bench. Junior veteran Jon Jay added a grand slam in the victory.
Tekotte hit a two-run home run on Sunday against FIU in a 5-0 win.
Jay leads the team with a .667 average while Tekotte and Giles are tied for the team lead with five RBI apiece.