Hurricanes Head To Raleigh To Take On Wolfpack
April 27, 2006
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The No. 22 University of Miami baseball team closes out one of the toughest months in program history with a three-game series at No. 15 North Carolina State, beginning with a 7 p.m. first pitch on Friday at Doak Field in Raleigh, N.C. N.C. State represents the fifth consecutive ranked team the Hurricanes have faced in April.
All three games will be broadcast live by the Student Voice of UM, WVUM 90.5 FM. Jay Dryburgh will be calling all of the action from the press box at Doak Field. Friday’s game can be seen on Comcast Sports Southeast with Matt Stewart calling the play-by-play and former Hurricane Wicho Hernandez providing color analysis. FSN Florida will air Saturday’s game live with Dan Bonner and Wes Durham calling all the action.
Both teams are currently in fourth place in their respective ACC divisions and will be jockeying for position within the conference and national polls. Miami (27-15 overall, 12-9 ACC Coastal) dropped two-of-three games to No. 13 Virginia in Coral Gables last weekend but closed out the series with a dramatic 10-inning win. N.C. State (31-13, 13-8 ACC Atlantic) was swept by local rival North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
The Wolfpack own an ACC-best 10-2 mark at home in conference play, while the Hurricanes sport the conference’s best ACC road record at 7-2. Miami’s last trip on the road netted two wins at then second-ranked Florida State, a team that had won 32-straight games at home prior to the series.
Miami leads the all-time series between the two schools, 13-6. UM and N.C. State split their four meetings in 2005, with Miami taking two of three games at Coral Gables and the Wolfpack winning in the first round of the ACC Tournament.
Miami’s pitching staff will have to contend with one of the country’s best offensive machines. The Wolfpack leads the ACC and ranks seventh in the NCAA in batting (.336), ninth in scoring (8.9/game) and is seventh in doubles (2.45/game). Six N.C. State regulars are near the .350 mark, a list that includes Ramon Corona (.381), Matt Camp (.374), Matt Mangini (.369), Jon Still (.360), Caleb Mangum (.354) and Aaron Bates (.349).
Carlos Gutierrez (8-4, 3.13 ERA) will take the mound for the ‘Canes on Friday against Gib Hobson (5-1, 4.82 ERA). Sophomore Scott Maine (6-2, 4.99 ERA) will make his first Saturday start of the season against righty Eryk McConnell (6-4, 3.39 ERA). Junior right-hander Ricky Orta (2-1, 5.23 ERA) will head to the hill on Sunday for his first start since March 15. Orta will face southpaw Eric Surkampl (2-2, 4.84 ERA) on Sunday.
Several Hurricanes have been stepping up their games on offense. UM got an added lift off the bench last Sunday from senior Tommy Giles, who hit a game-tying home run in the eighth inning against Virginia. Giles, who had missed the five previous games with an oblique strain, is hitting .643 with five doubles, two home runs and a 1.429 slugging percentage over his last four games. Junior Jon Jay is hitting leadoff for the first time since his freshman season and leads the team in walks (23), runs (48), stolen bases (19). He is followed in the lineup by freshman Jemile Weeks, who leads the ACC in triples with seven and is hitting .361 in conference play. Weeks knocked in the game-winning run in last Sunday’s win, a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning.
Junior catcher Eddy Rodriguez leads the Hurricanes in hitting with a .351 average and is batting .391 against ACC pitching. Freshman Yonder Alonso leads the team with 50 RBI and has a .992 fielding percentage at first base to lead all UM fielders.
