NO. 11 Miami Hosts Morris' Alma Mater Elon
Feb. 22, 2007
CORAL GABLES, Fla – – No. 11 Miami returns home for its third series at Mark Light Field when the Hurricanes host the Elon Phoenix. First pitch Friday night is scheduled for 7 p.m. The teams will play again on Saturday at 7 p.m. and close out the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.All three games will be broadcast locally by the Student Voice of UM, WVUM (90.5 FM). WQAM (560) will broadcast games on Fridayand Sunday.Miami leads the series with Elon, 9-3.
ABOUT THE MIAMI HURRICANES
Miami dropped a series over the weekend at Florida in Gainesville. UM snapped a seven-game series losing streak to the Gators when the Hurricanes won the series finale, 10-7. The Hurricanes out-hit the Gators, 26-24. Miami relief pitchers allowed four earned runs and nine hits in 17 innings pitched in the UF series. Opponents are hitting only .237 against UM pitchers this season. The Hurricanes are hitting .267 as a team on the season, but has out-hit opponents, 72-63. Miami pitchers have struck out 59 batters in 70 innings already this season. The 4-4 start for the Hurricanes matches the start of the 2002 team.
Sophomore first baseman Yonder Alonso and sophomore second baseman Jemile Weeks combined for seven hits in the series finale win over Florida. Alonso hit .500 (6-for-12) in the series with two home runs, six RBI and three walks. For the weekend, Alonso slugged 1.083 and had a .600 on-base percentage. He leads the team hitting .560 while slugging 1.200 with five home runs through eight games and 13 RBI. Weeks also had a great weekend against UF for the Hurricanes. He also hit .500 going 7-for-14 with three runs scored, three doubles and a triple. He slugged .857 and had a .533 on-base percentage. Weeks matched a career-high with four hits in the series finale as he went 4-for-5, falling one home run shy of hitting for the cycle. Weeks is second on the team hitting .344 with 11 hits including five extra-base hits. Redshirt sophomore pitcher Jason Santana picked up his first win of the season and tossed 3.2 innings in relief. He held UF to one hit and struck out two. Freshman RHP John Housey appeared twice against the Gators in the weekend and allowed one earned run in four innings and struck out five. Enrique Garcia earned his first career save for the Hurricanes. Garcia appeared twice against the Gators and pitched two scoreless innings. Freshman Mark Sobolewski made his first career start at third base in the UF series finale. He went 2-for-5 with three RBI. Sobolewski had three hits in the UF series and four RBI. He now has seven RBIs on the season. Freshman shortstop Ryan Jackson also had three hits against the Gators.
ABOUT THE ELON PHOENIX
Elon has won four straight games after falling to undefeated Coastal Carolina and then No. 7 Virginia. The Phoenix are coming off a three-game sweep at home of Saint Joseph’s, 11-1, 10-3 and 8-5. Centerfielder Chris Dove enters the series hitting .529 (9-for-17) with six runs scored. Dove is 5-of-6 in stolen bases. First baseman Chris Vasami also has nine hits in 22 at-bats. He has driven in 11 runs. Elon is hitting .317 as a team while the pitching staff has posted a 4.15 ERA. The Phoenix has 13 stolen bases in six games.
Elon was picked to finish third in the Southern Conference in 2007. The Phoenix won the SoCon in 2006 going 45-18 overall and advancing to the NCAA Clemson Regional. Vasami, RHP Steven Hensley and designated hitter Robert Rodebaugh were 2007 Preseason All-SoCon first team selections while third baseman Adam Weaver was a second team preseason selection. The Phoenix has four wins over top 25 teams the last two seasons.
Elon will send three right-handed starters to the mound this weekend. Hensley (1-1, 5.06 ERA) will start Friday’s series opener. Will Romanowicz (1-0, 3.12) will go in game two while senior Zach Booker (0-0, 4.70) will pitch in the series finale on Sunday.
THE UM-ELON SERIES
Miami leads the all-time series, 9-3. The Hurricanes have won four straight in the series. UM swept Elon during the 2004 season. Elon won the series during the 2002 season, winning two of three games in Coral Gables. Miami went on to win only 34 games in 2002 which was the only time that UM failed to win at least 40 games in the Jim Morris era.
ALONSO PICKING UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF
Sophomore first baseman Yonder Alonso didn’t need much time to familiarize himself with the long ball. After leading the team with 10 homers in 2006. Alonso already has half his freshman total through eight games. He hit two more in the UF series and now has five on the season. He hit his first home run of the season in the first game of the Mercer series. He followed that up with a two homer game in the second game of the UCLA series. Alonso now has 15 career home runs.
IT ONLY TOOK WEEKS WEEKS TO GET HOT
Sophomore second baseman Jemile Weeks needed just a few weeks under his belt in 2007 to get hot. Weeks left the Mercer series hitting .125. He hit his first home run of the season in the UCLA series leaving that series batting .222. Weeks enters the Elon series hitting .344, which is second on the team. He hit .500 (7-for-14) in the UF series and had four extra-base hits. He matched a career-high going 4-for-5 in the UF series finale, falling one home run shy of hitting for the cycle.
DOUBLE DUTY RABEN
Sophomore outfielder Dennis Raben is adding some extra depth to the UM pitching staff in 2007. The lefty Raben has already appeared in three games for the Hurricanes. He has four strikeouts in three innings and has yet to give up a hit. Offensively, Raben is hitting .182 with six hits including three extra-base hits. He’s scored six runs for UM.
MORRIS AND THE PHOENIX
UM head coach Jim Morris hosts his alma mater this weekend. Since taking over the program in 1994, Morris is 9-3 against Elon. He lost his first ever meeting with the Phoenix, 13-6 in Coral Gables, but bounced back to win the series. The 1999 team went on to win the College World Series.
Morris lettered as a shortstop at Elon from 1970-72. He later went on to play in the Boston Red Sox organization.
