Erickson, No. 5 Seed Miami Tops No. 1 Seed FSU, 9-3
May 25, 2007
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Freshman lefty Eric Erickson matched a career-best with eight strong innings to win his 10th game and sophomore second baseman Jemile Weeks drove in three runs while going 3-for-5 as No. 5 seed Miami knocked off No. 1 seed Florida State, 9-3, Friday night in the second game for both teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament in front of a tournament session record crowd of 13,546. Miami (36-21) kept its hope to reach the tournament final alive by defeating the Seminoles (47-10) after Wake Forest held off No. 4 seed Clemson, 3-2, in the first game of the day.
Erickson (10-3) held the Seminoles to three earned runs on seven hits and struck out four. David Gutierrez struck out two in one inning in relief. Florida State’s Ryan Strauss fell to 9-3 after allowing five runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Richard O’Brien hit his fourth home run and the first of this year’s tournament in the second inning giving Miami the lead for good. Three of O’Brien’s four home runs this season have come against the Seminoles. He finished 1-for-3 with three RBI. All nine UM starters had at least one hit in the game as Miami out-hit Florida State, 11-8.
Tony Thomas Jr. and Mark Gildea each went 2-for-4 for the Seminoles.
The Hurricanes erupted for four runs in the bottom of the sixth to go ahead, 9-3. Dave DiNatale doubled down the right field line and Blake Tekotte reached on a fielder’s choice sacrifice bunt. With one out Yonder Alonso dropped in an RBI single to right field to make it, 6-3, but Alonso was thrown out at first after making a hard turn. Dennis Raben then slid in safely at first base to score another run putting UM ahead, 7-3. Weeks tripled in Raben for an 8-3 lead. Mark Sobolewski’s base-hit allowed Weeks to score for a six-run lead.
FSU cut its deficit to 5-3 in the top of the sixth on Jason Stidham’s RBI single which scored Travis Anderson, who hit a one-out double.
Week’s two-run single in the bottom of the fifth put the Hurricanes ahead, 5-2. Blake Tekotte was hit by a pitch and Alonso was intentionally walked. With two outs, Weeks laced a single through the right side.
Thomas’ solo home run in the top of the third pulled Florida State within, 3-2.
O’Brien gave Miami a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the second when he hit a three-run home run to right field after Jemile Weeks singled and Gus Menendez walked.
Florida State took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Thomas led off with double and stole third. He scored on Mark Hallberg’s groundout.
The Hurricanes will play Wake Forest at 7 p.m. Saturday night in the final game of pool play. If Florida State defeats Clemson on Saturday and Miami defeats Wake Forest, UM will go to the championship game on Sunday. Enrique Garcia (7-3, 3.14 ERA) will start for the Hurricanes Saturday while Wake Forest will counter with Ben Hunter (6-6, 4.55 ERA).
Post-Game Notes
– Senior catcher Richard O’Brien has nine career home runs – four have come against the Seminoles. He hit his fourth home run of the season in the second inning and third against FSU this season. Of his nine career home runs, four have come against the Seminoles.
– Freshman lefty Eric Erickson won his second game of the season over Florida State. In 14 innings, Erickson has allowed 13 hits and four earned runs. FSU’s Tony Thomas Jr. is 4-for-7 against the freshman while the rest of the Seminoles are a combined 12-for-62. Erickson is 5-0 in his last six starts with a 1.56 ERA.
– Second baseman Jemile Weeks leads the team in the tournament hitting .455 (5-for-11) with five RBI. Sophomore first baseman Yonder Alonso is hitting .429 in the tournament with three walks.
– Miami is hitting .275 in the tournament but has averaged 11 hits per game. UM is 10-2 in its last 12 games hitting .323 as a team.
– Since returning to the lineup against North Florida, Jemile Weeks is hitting .351 (26-for-74) with 21 runs, seven-extra base hits and 14 RBI.
– Senior infielder Roger Tomas extended his hitting streak to eight games while freshman left fielder Mark Sobolewski extended his to seven games. Sobolewski has hit safely in 27 of the last 28 games.