No. 16 Hurricanes Head West For Three-Game Series With UCLA
Feb. 9, 2006
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The 16th-ranked University of Miami Hurricanes will head to Los Angeles to face the UCLA Bruins in a three game series at Jackie Robinson Stadium beginning Friday, Feb. 10 at 9 p.m. (ET). The teams will play again on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 5 p.m. (ET) and will close out the series on Sunday, Feb. 12 at 4 p.m. (ET).
All three games will be broadcast locally by the Student Voice of UM, WVUM (90.5 FM).
Miami holds an 8-0 advantage in the series against the Bruins, including a three-game sweep in 2002 at Mark Light Field, the last time the teams faced each other. It will be the Hurricanes’ first trip to the West Coast since the 2003 season when Miami played a three-game series at Long Beach State.
The Hurricanes are coming off a pair of losses in a doubleheader last Sunday against Winthrop. Miami won the first game of the series last Friday, 16-4, before losing 8-3 in Sunday’s first game and 4-3 in the series finale.
UCLA lost its first two games of the season last weekend to Fresno State before coming back to win 12-2 in the series finale for a 1-2 record.
The projected Hurricane starters, sophomores Carlos Gutierrez, Manny Miguelez and junior Danny Gil have combined to give up only six earned runs this season in 27.0 combined innings (2.00 ERA), with 21 strike outs and only seven walks.
Gutierrez (2-0, 0.90 ERA), has given up only one run off seven hits in his two starts, and is scheduled to face junior Hector Ambriz in the series opener Friday night. Ambriz is 0-1 on the season after giving up six earned runs in 2.1 innings against Fresno State in the Bruins’ season opener last Friday.
Miguelez (1-0, 2.45 ERA), has struck out a team-high 10 batters this season giving up only three runs and one walk in two starts. Miguelez is scheduled to face junior southpaw Dave Huff who is 0-1 on the season. Huff pitched 7.2 innings in his first start of the season striking out eight and allowing two unearned runs in a 5-0 loss to Fresno State.
Gil (0-1, 3.00 ERA), lost in his first start of the season in the second game of the doubleheader last Sunday. Gil is scheduled to face Tyson Brummett who picked up the Bruins first win last Sunday against Fresno State. Brummett pitched seven innings, striking out eight and giving up two earned runs.
As a team, the Hurricanes are hitting .341, thanks in large part to a trio of newcomers. Miami’s three starting freshmen in the field, Blake Tekotte, Yonder Alonso and Jemile Weeks are batting a combined .418 with 17 RBI on the season. Alonso had a huge weekend for the Hurricanes going 3-for-4 with six RBIs and a home run in Friday’s 16-4 victory against Winthrop and was 5-for-9 in Sunday’s doubleheader. He leads the Hurricanes with nine RBI this year.
Veteran third baseman Danny Valencia has scored a team-high nine runs and leads the team with a .455 average at the plate. Tekotte is proving to be a solid leadoff man for the Hurricanes, hitting in all five games this season including one home run. He leads Miami with a .542 on-base percentage and five stolen bases, three of which came in last Friday’s win.
PEREZ NAMED TO NCBWA STOPPER OF THE YEAR LIST
Junior closer Chris Perez was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List earlier this week, an award honoring college baseball’s top relief pitcher. Perez Perez compiled up a 2-0 record with seven saves out of the bullpen last season with a 1.23 ERA in 20 relief appearances after beginning the season in the Hurricanes’ starting rotation. His performance caught the eye of the U.S. National Team, who he pitched with last summer.
Although he hasn’t been in a save situation yet, his dominating performance out of the bullpen has continued through the early part of this season with three strikeouts, no walks and no hits in three innings spread across two appearances.
