Hurricane Baseball Returns Home to Face FIU
April 3, 2007
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – – Miami (17-13, 5-7 ACC) opens up a four-game home-stand Wednesday when the Hurricanes host cross-town foe Florida International (16-15) at 7 p.m. at Mark Light Field. Eight of UM’s next nine games will be played at Mark Light beginning with the Panthers. Miami will play at FIU next Wednesday, April 11. Wednesday’s game will be carried by the Student Voice of UM, WVUM (90.5 FM), which can also be picked up online at www.wvum.org. The flagship of Miami athletics, WQAM (560 AM), will also broadcast the game.
Miami is coming off a series win at No. 11 Clemson last weekend. It was the first win over the Tigers by UM since joining the ACC. Miami’s 10-3 win Friday night snapped a 21-game ACC home winning streak by the Tigers. The UM series win was Clemson’s first series loss at home since 2005.
Sophomore first baseman Yonder Alonso, senior infielder Roger Tomas and sophomore right fielder Dennis Raben each had four hits in the Clemson series. Alonso went 4-for-12 with two home runs and six RBI. Raben was 4-for-12 with two doubles, one home run and five RBI. Miami’s pitching staff held Clemson to nine earned runs in 26 innings. On the season, Miami has a 3.87 team ERA, which is seventh in the ACC. LHP Manny Miguelez will start for UM against the Panthers. Miguelez is 0-1 with a 7.40 ERA.
The Hurricanes are hitting just .276, which ranks 10th in the ACC. Alonso leads the team batting .369 with a team-high 34 RBI and eight home runs. Freshman third baseman Mark Sobolewski has a team-high 39 hits and nine doubles. He ranks second with 30 RBI.
FIU (16-15) won its series finale against No. 28 Louisiana-Lafayette, 14-13, but dropped the series at home last weekend. The Panthers overcame six errors and a five-run deficit to rally for the win. FIU is led by left fielder James McOwen, who ranks in the top 10 nationally in batting average hitting .466 on the season. He is third nationally with 62 hits in 31 games and has 37 runs scored and 13 doubles. FIU hits .329 as a team while the pitching staff has a 6.22 ERA. Freshman RHP Ryan Bernal (3-0, 2.37 ERA) will make his first collegiate start against the Hurricanes. Bernal has appeared in 10 games, recording 16 strikeouts in 19 innings and one save.
The Hurricanes lead the all-time series, 88-23. Miami won both meetings last season, 17-3, at Mark Light Field and 5-0 at FIU. UM has won four straight in the series. FIU last defeated Miami during the 2004 season, 5-4, at Mark Light Field.
Miami continues ACC play this weekend hosting Georgia Tech Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Games are 7 p.m., 1 p.m. and 1 p.m. The games on Friday and Sunday will be televised live by CSS. FSN Florida will carry the game on Saturday as the ACC game of the week.
