No. 11 Hurricanes Head to No. 1 North Carolina for ACC Opener
March 8, 2007
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No. 11 Miami opens up Atlantic Coast Conference play this weekend when the Hurricanes hit the road to face No. 1 North Carolina at Boshamer Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m Friday. Saturday’s game is slated to start at 1 p.m. Sunday’s finale will begin at noon and will be televised on CSS. All three games will be broadcast locally by the Student Voice of UM, WVUM (90.5 FM), which can also be picked up online at www.wvum.org.
ABOUT THE MIAMI HURRICANES
Miami has won seven of its last nine games bouncing back from a Tuesday defeat to win Wednesday night over La Salle, 7-2. RHP 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 in the win. The Hurricanes had a five-game winning streak snapped against St. Bonaventure on Tuesday, 5-2. Freshman third baseman Mark Sobolewski went 4-for-4 with a run scored in the game. Sobolewski had another good series for Miami against Fordhamn as he finished the weekend 7-for-14 with three runs scored, one double, one triple, a three-run home run and eight RBI. He slugged .929 and owned a .563 on-base percentage. Dennis Raben and Roger Tomas each hit .444 in the series while Raben had two home runs, four RBI and five walks. He slugged 1.111 and had a .643 on-base percentage last weekend. Freshman lefty Eric Erickson leads a Miami pitching staff that has 4.41 team ERA through 16 games. Erickson is 2-1 with a 2.14 ERA. He has 20 K’s in 21 innings. Junior lefty Scott Maine is 2-2 with 5.00 ERA. After a rough outting against Elon, Maine bounced back to toss five scoreless innings against Fordham.Yonder Alonso leads the Miami offense hitting .453 with a team-high five home runs. He is second on the team with 20 RBI and 24 hits. Sobolewski has a team-high eight doubles including a career-high three doubles against St. Bonaventure. He also owns team-highs in hits (27) and RBI (25). Miami is hitting .297 on the season.
ABOUT THE NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS
North Carolina enters the series 12-1 and ranked No. 1 in this week’s Baseball America poll. The Tar Heels defeated Temple, 14-0, Wednesday for its 12th win and 11th home win of the season. UNC is 11-1 at Boshamer Stadium in 2007. The Tar Heels will send the rotation of senior RHP Robert Woodard, freshman RHP Alex White and sophomore RHP Luke Putkonen to the mound this weekend. Woodard and White boasts ERAs under 1.00 as Woodard has a 0.92 ERA while holding opponents to a .167 batting average. White is 2-0 with a 0.95 ERA and holds opponents to a .175 avg. As a staff, UNC pitchers have a 1.66 ERA and 94 strikeouts in 119 innings. Opponents are hitting just .189 against them. Offensively, UNC returns the bulk of its lineup in 2007 that helped the Tar Heels to the College World Series. Shortstop Josh Horton leads the team hitting .421 with 10 RBI. Freshman utility player Dustin Ackley is hitting .396 with a team-high 20 RBI and nine doubles. UNC has outscored opponents, 96-30.
THE UM-UNC SERIES
Miami leads the all-time series, 18-12-1. North Carolina claimed the series last season in Coral Gables, 2-1. UNC outscored Miami, 23-22, in last season’s series which included a one-run and two-run wn for the Tar Heels. UNC is 5-4-1 in the last 10 games with the Hurricanes and Miami has won five games in Chapel Hill.
DON’T SEE THAT OFTEN
Three left-handed pitchers start in Miami’s weekend rotation, which seems to be a rarity in college baseball, but it’s not too rare for UM. RS Junior LHP Scott Maine starts for the Hurricanes on Friday while freshman lefty Eric Erickson has earned the spot on Saturday. Junior lefty Manny Miguelez is the Sunday starter. Miami actually had a three-lefty starting rotation back during the 2003 season. UM traveled to No. 1 Florida State the weekend Apr. 25-27. J.D. Cockroft started Friday night while Brandon Camardese went on Saturday, while Alex Perez made his second career start that Sunday. The series actually featured six left-handers in the starting rotation as Florida State countered with three left-handers, Trent Peterson, Matt Lynch and Daniel Davidson. Miami used that same rotation of Cockroft, Camardese and Perez the following weekend against Pace, May 2-4, which was the last time three lefties started the weekend for UM.
WHAT A TOUGH WAY TO START
Miami begins the ACC with its toughest stretch of the season and toughest month of its season this weekend. The Hurricanes will face three teams ranked in the top 10 nationally – all on the road – in the month of March. UM travels to No. 1 North Carolina this weekend for a three-game set. The Hurricanes will head to No. 4 Virginia. Mar. 23-25, before wrapping up the month of March at No. 6 Clemson, Mar. 30-Apr. 1. Miami went only 10-20 against teams ranked in the top 25 in 2006. Miami is already 3-0 against the Top 25 in 2007.
HURRICANES IN ACC OPENERS
The Hurricanes begin their third season in the Atlantic Coast Conference with the three-game series against UNC. Miami is 5-1 all-time in ACC series openers having taken two of three games at home against NC State in 2005. UM swept Virginia Tech at home in 2006 in its ACC series opener. This is the first time that Miami will open the conference season on the road.
SOBOLEWSKI STAYING HOT FOR CANES
Miami freshman third baseman Mark Sobolewski continues to be hot for the Hurricanes. Sobolewski is now 22-for-41 in his last nine games while producing 21 RBI. He has seven doubles during that stretch He followed up his 8-for-14, 10 RBI Elon series performance with a 7-for-14, 8 RBI performance against Fordham. He finished 4-for-4 with a career-best three doubles with one run scored against St. Bonaventure. Sobolewski is in the midst of a 10-game hitting streak for the Canes. Heading into the week, Sobolewski leads the ACC in RBI (25) averaging 1.6 per game.
THE LAST NINE FOR THE CANES
Miami is starting to settle into a groove in its last nine games. The Hurricanes are 7-2 while hitting .325 with 101 hits. Freshman Mark Sobolewski has the hot bat hitting .537 and slugging .829. Sophomore first baseman Yonder Alonso is hitting .406 with 13 hits including three doubles and a home run.
