Hurricanes Open Seven-Game Homestand by Hosting Stetson
April 24, 2007
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Miami (25-17) hosts No 24 Stetson Wednesday night to open up a seven-game homestand at Mark Light Field. Game time is 7 p.m. The 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 Hurricanes (25-17, 11-10 ACC) snapped a two-game losing streak by sweeping Virginia Tech on the road last weekend, 11-9, 4-3 and 9-5. UM finished the week, 3-1, led by freshman Mark Sobolewski. Sobolewski hit .529 going 9-for-17 with six runs scored and three RBI in four games extended his hitting streak to 13 games. He slugged .824 and owned a .556 on-base percentage. He hit .571 in the Virginia Tech series guiding the Hurricanes to their first Atlantic Coast Conference series sweep. He posted his third four-hit game of the season in the series finale and hit his fourth home run of the season in the second game of the series. Miami hit .317 as a team in the Tech series, out-hitting the Hokies, 32-25. Opponents hit just .227 against eight Miami pitchers last week.
Sophomore first baseman Yonder Alonso and Dennis Raben each homered over the weekend. Raben homered against North Florida and Virginia Tech. He now has four home runs in his last six games and 10 on the season, which ranks third in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Alonso has homered 11 times, which is second in the ACC. Both Sobolewski and Alonso are top RBI guys in the conference. Alonso is fourth with 45 RBIs while Sobolewski is eighth with 41 RBIs. Junior lefty Manny Miguelez (0-2, 6.12 ERA) will start against Stetson.
Stetson (32-11) is ranked No. 24 in the latest USA Today Coaches’, NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball polls. The Hatters won a series at Jacksonville in their last outing. After losing the series opener, Stetson bounced back to win 6-3 and 6-4. The Hatters are led by outfielder Justin Bass, who hits .378. He is tied with third baseman Braedyn Pruitt for the team-lead in RBI (37). First baseman Jeremy Cruz has a team-high 63 hits while batting .375. Stetson hits .320 as a team while the pitching staff has a 3.14 team ERA led by RHP Corey Kluber. Kluber will start against the Hurricanes on Wednesday night. He is 8-0 on the season with a 1.80 ERA in 11 starts and has struck out 77 in 75 innings in holding opponents to a .181 batting average. Closer Robbi Elsemiller has 11 saves in 21 appearances.
Miami leads the all-time series with Stetson, 107-42. However, the teams last met during the 2001 season. UM has won eight of the last 11 meetings.
