Hurricanes Begin Tough ACC Stretch With Home Series Against Clemson

March 30, 2006

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CORAL GABLES, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) – An Atlantic Coast Conference gauntlet begins for the No. 13 Miami Hurricanes on Friday when it starts a three-game series against No. 9 Clemson at 7 p.m. at Mark Light Field. The series continues on Saturday at 7 p.m. and concludes with a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday.

Miami (23-7 overall, 8-1 ACC), who has won 17 of its last 18 games, will be opening a daunting portion of its ACC schedule that features five straight series against ranked opponents. Seventh-ranked North Carolina visits The Light next weekend before Miami heads to top-ranked rival Florida State April 14-16. Miami returns home to face No. 18 Virginia April 21-23, and closes out the month at No. 17 North Carolina State, April 28-30.

All three games against Clemson will be televised live by Comcast Sports Southeast, with Frank Forte calling the play-by-play and former Hurricane Wicho Hernandez providing color analysis. The Student Voice of UM, WVUM (90.5) FM will broadcast all three games as well. Friday and Saturday’s games can be heard in Spanish on WHRC (1550 AM) and UM’s flagship, WQAM (560 AM) will broadcast the series finale on Sunday.

But the Hurricanes can’t afford to look ahead and certainly have no reason to look past a veteran Clemson (17-7, 3-3 ACC) team that beat them four times in the 2005 season. The Tigers swept Miami at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in mid-May of last year and eliminated the `Canes from their first ACC Tournament five days later in Jacksonville, Fla. Those four losses comprised a big chunk of an uncharacteristic six-game losing streak that marked the end of Miami’s regular season last year.

UM is coming off a series win at Maryland, with the only loss in the series ending a 16-game winning streak last Saturday. Clemson swept North Carolina State last weekend and split a pair of weekday games against 21st-ranked Georgia.

Miami, leaders of the ACC’s Coastal Division, and the Tigers are loaded with pitching talent. The Hurricanes own the best team ERA in the ACC, allowing 2.35 earned runs per game, while Clemson touts a 3.08 staff ERA. UM Friday starter Carlos Gutierrez (7-1, 1.65 ERA) leads the conference in wins and will face Clemson ace Josh Cribb (5-0, 1.82 ERA) on Friday. Cribb started and won two games against Miami last season, including a complete game in the ACC Tournament.

Saturday’s game will showcase Miami sophomore lefty Manny Miguelez (5-1, 1.91 ERA) against righty Jason Berken (3-2, 2.45 ERA). Southpaw Scott Maine (5-0, 2.10 ERA) will head to the hill on Sunday against Tiger right-hander Stephen Faris (2-0, 2.06 ERA).

Junior catcher Eddy Rodriguez leads the Hurricanes in several offensive categories, including batting average (.378), home runs (six) and slugging percentage (.695). Freshman Jemile Weeks is currently on a 16-game hitting streak and needs a hit in the series opener to set a new freshman record at Miami. First baseman Yonder Alonso has kept driving in runs to challenge the UM freshman record for RBI and has 39 through 30 games. Junior center fielder Jon Jay is third in the ACC with 35 runs scored.

Clemson is led by junior outfielder Tyler Colvin, who leads the team with a .368 average and six home runs. Colvin was named the ACC Player of the Week last week after hitting .412 in five games, including four doubles and a triple. First baseman Andy D’Alessio leads the Tigers with 28 RBI and has been perfect in the field this season at first base.

Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-GO-Canes.