No. 11 Miami Baseball Downs La Salle, 7-2
March 7, 2007
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – – Jason Santana tossed five solid innings for his third win and sophomore first baseman Yonder Alonso and freshman shortstop Ryan Jackson combined for six hits to lead No. 11 Miami to a 7-2 win over La Salle Wednesday night at Mark Light Field. Dave DiNatale finished 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI for the Hurricanes, who improved to 10-6 heading into to this weekend’s Atlantic Coast Conference series opener at No. 1 North Carolina.
Santana gave up one earned run on four hits and struck out three to improve to 3-0 on the season. Freshman right-hander David Gutierrez tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings while fellow freshman Michael Rudman pitched the last 1 1/3 innings to seal the win. Alonso went 3-for-4 with two RBI while Jackson had a season-best 3-for-4 performance. He scored two runs and had two great defensive plays for UM.
Dan Waters (2-1) lost for the first time this season on the mound for the Explorers (5-5). He struck out three in 4 1/3 innings but allowed six earned runs on eight hits and walked three. Six different Explorers had at least one hit in the game.
Miami jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Alonso drove in Jackson who hit a one-out single and reached third on a failed pickoff attempt. Mark Sobolewski, who reached base on a walk, later scored on Dennis Raben’s fielder’s choice.
La Salle tied the game in the top of the third. Dennis Burge walked to lead off the inning. Davis Hewett followed with a double to left field and moved to third on an outfield error. Burge scored cutting UM’s lead to 2-1. Kevin Jones’ RBI single up the middle tied the game, 2-2.
The Hurricanes regained the lead in the bottom of the third. Jackson singled again to right field and moved to second on Sobolewski’s single. Alonso doubled in Jackson for a 3-2 Miami advantage. Sobolewski scored on DiNatale’s ground out for a 4-2 score, before Raben’s ground out scored Alonso capping the three-run inning.
UM tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Jonathan Weislow drew a bases loaded walk giving Miami a 6-2 lead. With the bases loaded, DiNatale scored on a wild pitch making it, 7-2.
Raben finished with two RBI for the Hurricanes. Miami out-hit La Salle, 10-6, in the game.
Miami heads to Chapel Hill for its ACC weekend opener at the top-ranked Tar Heels. Friday’s first pitch is slated for 3 p.m. Saturday’s game will start at 1 p.m. while Sunday’s series finale has been moved to 12 p.m. Sunday’s game will be televised on CSS.
