Hurricanes Continue ACC Road Swing at No. 11 Clemson
March 30, 2007
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HURRICANES CONTINUE ACC ROAD SWING AT NO. 11 CLEMSON
Miami (15-12, 3-6 ACC) wraps up a six-game Atlantic Coast Conference road trip at No.11 Clemson. Game times are 7:15 p.m. Friday, 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. All three games will be televised live on CSS and broadcasted by the Student Voice of UM, WVUM (90.5 FM), which can also be picked up online at www.wvum.org. Saturday’s WVUM is only available via the internet.
ABOUT THE MIAMI HURRICANES
Miami won the series finale at No. 5 Virginia on Sunday and went 1-2 last week. The Hurricanes wrap up their tough road stretch when they head to No. 11 Clemson this weekend. It will be the third road trip against a top 12 team in league play in the month of March. Miami’s pitching staff posted a 2.57 ERA amd held UVa to a .245 batting average in the series. UM pitchers combined for 19 striekouts in the series. However, the UM offense only hit .161 against Virginia’s pitching and struck out 37 times in 27 innings.
Sophomore centerfielder Blake Tekotte extended his hitting streak to 10 games at UVa. He had four hits in the series and scored two runs. Sophomore first baseman Yonder Alonso was 3-for-8 with three walks in the Virginia series. UM’s starting rotation of Eric Erickson, Scott Maine and Enrique Garcia kept Virginia to four earned runs on 15 hits. Garcia led UM to a 4-2 win on Sunday. Erickson ranks second in the ACC in individual pitching with a 1.58 ERA. He has 38 strikeouts in 40 innings. Freshman third baseman Mark Sobolewski leads the team with 30 RBI. He and teammate Yonder Alonso rank in the top 10 in the ACC in runs batted in.
ABOUT THE CLEMSON TIGERS
Clemson dropped an Atlantic Coast Conference road series at Maryland last weekend, but picked up two mid-week wins over Western Carolina and Gardner-Webb. The Tigers (17-7, 4-2 ACC) defeated Gardner-Webb, 14-2, Tuesday and knocked off Western Carolina, 15-6, on Wednesday. The Tigers have won nine of their last 12 games and are 16-3 at home this season. Clemson has an ACC series win over Duke at home. Clemson sends the rotation of RHP PJ. Zocchi (3-0, 2.70 ERA), LHP Ryan Hinson (1-1, 2.14 ERA) and RHP David Kopp (3-2, 3.58 ERA) to the mound. Opponents are hitting .233 against Clemson pitchers while staff has struck out 203 in 212 2/3 innings. Offensively, the Tigers are hitting .293 led by centerfielder Brad Chalk, who is hitting .425 in 23 games. Doug Hogan and Marquez Smith each have four home runs. Hogan is second on the team hitting .390 with 30 hits. Shortstop Taylor Harbin has already gone 6-for-12 with five RBI in the two mid-week games this week. Designated hitter Ben Paulsen
THE UM-CLEMSON SERIES
The Hurricanes lead the all-time series, 21-20-1. Clemson has a seven-game winning streak in the series having swept the last two meetings since UM joined the ACC. The Tigers won 8-6, 6-2 and 14-1 in Coral Gables last season. Clemson has won eight of the last 10 meetings with the Hurricanes. Miami last won in the series during the 2001 – a 14-6 win in the NCAA Super Regional.
