Hurricanes Ousted From ACC Tournament By Georgia Tech, 7-4
May 26, 2006
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) – A diving catch in center field. A strong throw home from right. A nifty pickup at short. Those were the things Miami encountered when it tried to rally against Georgia Tech in a 7-4 loss at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville on Friday night. The loss was Miami’s (36-21) fourth against the Yellow Jackets (44-15) this season and eliminated the Hurricanes from the 2006 ACC Baseball Tournament.
Georgia Tech’s defense made several outstanding plays in the game, perhaps none more important than Wally Crancer’s throw home in the fifth inning. Trailing 5-4 with two outs and men on first and second base, Miami freshman Blake Tekotte slapped a single to right field. Dennis Raben rounded third and headed for home on the play, looking to tie the game. Crancer’s throw home was high, but on the money and Raben was called out on Andy Hawranick’s tag to end the inning.
The Yellow Jackets added a run on Mike Trapani’s sac fly to center in the seventh to take a 6-4 lead. Jon Jay hit a two-out single in the Hurricane seventh and looked to be headed home on an apparent extra-base hit to center from Danny Valencia. But Tech center fielder Steven Blackwood made a diving catch on the line drive to end the inning.
Crancer’s RBI groundout in the eighth put the score at 7-4. Miami tried to answer again in the eighth with a two-out single from Eddy Rodriguez. Gus Menendez pinch-hit for Yonder Alonso and crushed a pitch to right field that was pushed down by the wind and caught by Crancer to end the inning.
Two more defensive gems denied Miami of its final comeback attempt in the ninth. Blackwood tracked down a drive in the gap by Jay with runners on first and second base. Shortstop Michael Fisher made a tough back-handed pickup and throw on a searing grounder hit by Valencia to end the game and advance in the tournament.
Freshman second baseman Jemile Weeks went 4-for-5 with a run scored and RBI to lead Miami’s 12-hit offensive effort. Jay and Giles added two hits apiece for the Hurricanes.
Hurricane starter Marcelo Albir (0-1) made his first start since the 2003 season and gave up seven hits and five runs with a walk and a strikeout in the loss.
Blackwood, Crancer, Matt Wieters and Andy Hawranick all drove in runs and collected two hits in the game. Reliever Jared Hyatt (3-0) earned the win, giving up one hit in one inning of relief. Wieters pitched the ninth inning to earn his ninth save of the season.
Blackwood ripped a double to center to start the game. Jay appeared to have made a diving catch, but the ball was ruled to come out of his glove when he landed. Blackwood advanced on Crancer’s ground out and scored on Wieters’ single to take a 1-0 lead.
Miami tied the game in its half of the first on a wild pitch. Giles reached on fielder’s choice and stole second with two outs on a 1-1 count to Valencia. Hawranick’s throw sailed into center field on the play, allowing Giles to move to third. Ryan Turner’s next pitch got away from Hawranick, allowing Giles to score.
Consecutive one-out doubles by Crancer and Wieters in the third allowed the Yellow Jackets to regain the lead at 2-1.
UM took advantage of another Georgia Tech error in the third to tie the game. Roger Tomas walked and moved to second on Tekotte’s sac bunt. Fisher threw the ball away on Weeks’ infield single, allowing Tomas to come home and knot the game at 2-2.
Hawranick’s RBI double to left with no outs in the fourth ended Albir’s night in favor of Danny Gil. Georgia Tech added two more runs in the inning, on a Fisher grounder and a Blackwood single to take a 5-2 lead.
The Hurricanes closed the gap to 5-4 with two runs in the fifth. Weeks hit a double down the right field line to score Tomas, and scored on Giles’ single to right. It was as close as the Hurricanes would get.
Miami will return to Coral Gables to await its NCAA Tournament fate. The 16 NCAA Regional host sites will be announced at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday on ESPN. The 64-team NCAA field will be announced on Monday at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN.
