No. 23 Hurricanes Host Maryland in ACC Home Opener
March 15, 2007
NO. 23 HURRICANES HOST MARYLAND IN ACC HOME OPENER
No. 23 Miami (12-9, 0-3 ACC) opens up Atlantic Coast Conference home play this weekend when the Hurricanes host the Maryland Terrapins (12-5, 2-1 ACC). Game times are 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Saturday’s game will be televised live 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. WQAM (560 AM) and WRHC (1550AM) will broadcast Saturday’s game.
ABOUT THE MIAMI HURRICANES
Miami has won both of its mid-week games picking up a 4-2 win over Maine on Tuesday and 4-1 win over Rutgers on Wednesday. Sophomore first baseman Yonder Alonso drove in the go-ahead runs in the bottom of the eighth as UM rally with four runs Tuesday. Redshirt sophomore Jason Santana struck out a career-high seven in 5 2/3 innings and sophomore first baseman Yonder Alonso went 2-for-4 with two RBI and his sixth homer in the win on Wednesday.
The Hurricanes are 5-1 in home ACC openers. UM dropped all three games of its North Carolina series last weekend , which included two two-run games against the top-ranked Tar Heels. Alonso has been the hot-bat this mid-week. He is 4-for-8 with four RBI going into the weekend.
Sophomore second baseman Jemile Weeks led the Hurricanes against the Tar Heels going 5-for-12 with three runs scored, a home run and a double. Sophomore right fielder Dennis Raben had his second multi-home run game of the season in the UNC series finale. Raben had three hits and five RBI as he went 3-for-3 with four RBI in game three. Freshman third baseman Mark Sobolewski continues to be the hot bat in the line-up for the Hurricanes. Sobolewski had nine hits last week and hit .450. He had an 11-game hitting streak snapped Saturday. Entering the week, Sobolewski ranked in the top 10 of the ACC in RBI (2nd), hits ( 9th), doubles (9) and total bases (10th). Alonso leads the team hitting .408. He ranked second in the ACC in walks (20), fifth in slugging percentage (.746) and home runs (6), seventh in on-base percentage (.536) and 16th in individual batting (.408). The Hurricanes has changed their rotation as freshman lefty Eric Erickson (2-2, 1.93 ERA) will make his first Friday start. LHP Scott Maine (2-3, 5.57 ERA) will start Saturday while RHP Enrique Garcia makes his first weekend start on Sunday.
ABOUT THE MARYLAND TERRAPINS
Maryland split a couple of mid-week games falling to James Madison 13-6 at home and shutting out Coppin State, 27-0, Wednesday. The Terrapins enter the ACC weekend 12-5 and 2-1 in the ACC after taking a series on the road at NC State last weekend. Maryland won 6-3 and 4-2 in the first two games before NC State avoided the sweep with a 20-3 win Sunday.
Right fielder A.J. Casario is hitting .344. He is second on the team with 14 RBI and 22 hits. Third baseman Mike Murphy has a team-high 23 hits and seven doubles while left fielder Joe Palumbo has driven in 16 RBI. Maryland enters the series hitting .290 as a team while the pitching staff has a 4.50 team ERA. Maryland sends the rotation of LHP Casey Baron (3-0, 3.52 ERA), RHP Ryan Moorer (2-0, 2.81 ERA) and RHP Kevin Biringer (1-3, 5.30 ERA).
THE UM-MARYLAND SERIES
The Hurricanes lead the series, 4-2, winning the series last season in College Park, 2-1. UM won the opener 10-2. Maryland won game two, 5-4, but Miami bounced back to win 3-1 in the serie finale. The teams last met in Coral Gables during the 2005 season with Miami winning the series, 2-1.
HATS OFF TO HURRICANE FANS
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day this Saturday March 17th, the Hurricanes will wear a commemorative cap as they take on ACC rival Maryland Terrapins. The cap features an all green Hurricanes English M logo on the front and a solid green four leaf clover on the back. Immediately following the game, all Hurricanes players and coaches will autograph their game used cap and 25 winners will be selected among the fans who’ve signed up. All fans are encouraged to stop by the main entrance of Mark Light Field throughout the game and enter to win your very own cap. Winners need not be present to win. For more information, or to order your tickets, please call 1-800-GO-CANES.
WHAT A TOUGH WAY TO START
Miami has begun the ACC with its toughest stretch of the season and toughest month of its season. The Hurricanes will face three teams ranked in the top 10 nationally – all on the road – in the month of March. UM traveled to No. 1 North Carolina and dropped three close games, 7-5, 3-1 and 11-7. 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 3-3 against the Top 25 in 2007.
HURRICANES IN HOME ACC OPENERS
The Hurricanes began 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. Miami opened the conference season on the road for the first time last weekend.
