No. 12 Hurricanes Host Fordham in Final Nonconference Tuneup
March 2, 2007
No. 12 Miami host the Fordham Rams in the final nonconference series before Atlantic Coast Conference play begins next weekend. 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 the game Friday night. Miami leads the series with Fordham, 5-0.
ABOUT THE MIAMI HURRICANES
Miami won the final two games of the series with Elon last weekend by scoring 23 runs to win its second straight series at home. The Hurricanes out-hit the Phoenix, 38-22, and hit .362 as a team in the series. Miami’s pitching staff posted a 3.33 ERA and held Elon to a .216 team batting average. Miami relief pitchers had another good series holding the Phoenix to six hits in 15.1 innings and only two earned runs. Opponents are hitting only .216 against UM pitchers this season. The Hurricanes are hitting .293 as a team on the season, but has out-hit opponents, 110-85. Miami last scored 17 runs in the 2006 opener at home against FIU in a 17-3. Miami had a season-high 16 hits in the 17-4 win over Elon. UM had a 10-run first inning in game two against Elon. Miami last scored 10 or more runs in an inning in 1999 when UM put up 10 runs against Ohio State in the fifth inning of its 23-3 win. Freshman third baseman Mark Sobolewski went 8-for-14 with three runs, three doubles and 10 RBI in the Elon series. He hit .571 and walked twice. Sobolewski has a team-high 17 RBIs. Dennis Raben, Yonder Alonso and Dave DiNatale each had four hits in the series. Raben matched a career-high with three hits in the series finale win. Freshman outfielder Kevin Diego registered his first career hit as a Hurricane in the second game of the series. Diego finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Jason Santana improved to 2-0 on the season after throwing three scoreless innings against Elon Sunday. He has only allowed one hit in his last 6 2/3 innings pitched. Freshman LHP Eric Erickson won his first career game in the second game of the series. Going back to his appearance at UF, Erickson had retired 19 of 20 batters heading into the fourth inning of the second game of the Elon series. He had a streak of 16 retired batters snapped when he issued a walk in the third inning against Elon.
ABOUT THE FORDHAM RAMS
Fordham dropped three one-run games to VCU last weekend to open its season. The Rams fell 4-3, 7-6 and 1-0 on the road. First baseman Bobby DiNardo led the Rams going 5-for-12 with three RBIs in the series. Fordham hit .232 in the series and posted a 3.28 ERA. The Rams feature two of the top pitchers in the Atlantic 10 Conference. RHP Cory Riordan is listed as the top MLB prospect in the Atlantic 10 heading into the 2007 draft. Riordan played in the Cape Cod League for Falmouth and went 3-1 with 34 strikeouts. Senior right-hander Javier Martinez is rated as the third best prospect in the A-10. He went 6-6 last season with 84 K’s in 86.1 innings. Martinez (0-1, 1.50 ERA) will start Friday’s series opener. Riordan (0-0, 7.20) will go in game two while RHP Tom Davis (0-0, 2.70) will pitch in the series finale on Sunday.
THE UM-FORDHAM SERIES
Miami leads the all-time series, 5-0. All five games have been played in Coral Gables and UM has outscored Fordham, 48-5. Three of the Miami wins have been by shutout.
SOBOLEWSKI NAMED ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Miami freshman third baseman Mark Sobolewski was selected Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Player of the Week for February 26, while NC State’s Andrew Brackman earned Pitcher of the Week accolades. It is the first honor by a Hurricane this season. A native of Sarasota, Fla., Sobolewski compiled a .571 batting average as he went 8-for-14 with 10 RBI in the Elon series last weekend. He established a personal best, going 4-for-4 with four RBI in the series opener. The freshman third baseman then followed up with a 3-for-5, six-RBI performance in game two of the series. Sobolewski reached base nine straight times and collected eight hits, three doubles and two walks for the week. He also slugged .786 and had a .625 on-base percentage. He has 10 hits and 13 RBI in the last four games for Miami and is hitting .326 with a team-high 17 RBI.
CANES CHALLENGE MARLINS IN EXHIBITION GAME
Gus Menendez went 3-for-3, but the Florida Marlins rallied from a three-run deficit to defeat the University of Miami Hurricanes, 12-7, Tuesday afternoon in an exhibition game at Roger Dean Stadium. Miami pounded out 11 hits as a team against the major league club, but Florida rallied late for the second straight year to win. Ryan Jackson finished 1-for-1 with two RBIs for UM, who had nine different players get at least one hit. Four of the 12 Hurricane hits went for extra bases. Eight Miami pitchers combined to strike out nine Marlins. Anthony Nalepa had two strikeouts in one inning pitched. Freshman right-hander John Housey started for the Hurricanes and struck out one in one inning. Teddy Kaufman, Michael Rudman, David Gutierrez, Kyle Bellamy, Enrique Garcia, Danny Gil and Dennis Raben all pitched in the game.
