HURRICANES HOST A PAIR OF MIDWEEK GAMES
March 11, 2008
Game 11
Tuesday: Penn State at Miami
Mar. 11, 7 p.m. (Mark Light Field)
Radio: WVUM (90.5 FM)
Webcast: ACC Select (www.acc.playonsports.tv)
Probable Starting Pitchers:
UM: 36 Jason Santana, RHP (2-0, 1.54 ERA)
PSU: 11 Mike Wanamaker, RHP (1-0, 1.38 ERA)
Game 12
Saturday: Maine at Miami
Mar. 12, 7 p.m. (Mark Light Field)
Radio: WVUM (90.5 FM)
Webcast: ACC Select (www.acc.playonsports.tv)
Probable Starting Pitchers:
UM: 40 John Housey, RHP (0-0, 13.50 ERA)
MAINE: TBA
HURRICANES HOST A PAIR OF MIDWEEK GAMES
Miami (9-1, 3-0 ACC) hosts a pair of midweek games when the Hurricanes face Penn State Tuesday and Maine Wednesday. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m. Both games will be carried on the radio by the Student Voice of UM, WVUM (90.5 FM), which can also be picked up online at www.wvum.org. Fans can also watch both games on ACC Select at www.acc.playonsports.tv
ABOUT THE MIAMI HURRICANES
Miami (9-1, 3-0 ACC) went 4-0 last week with a Tuesday win over Lehigh, 9-2, before opening Atlantic Coast Conference play with a three-game of Boston College. Miami hit .375 as a team in the four wins. UM accounted for 10 home runs and 10 doubles. Miami’s pitching staff posted a 2.75 ERA led behind wins from sophomore RHP Anthony Nalepa, LHP Chris Hernandez, LHP Eric Erickson and RHP Jason Santana. The Hurricanes have racked up double-digits in hits in their last four games and average 10.8 hits per game. UM is hitting .322, but the story has been the `Canes pitching. Opponents are hitting just .189 against UM pitchers, while the staff has struck out 108 in 90 innings and walked just 25 while posting a 2.90 team ERA. Offensively Preseason All-Americans Blake Tekotte (.306, 12 Runs, 11 Hits, 1 HR, 3 RBI), Jemile Weeks (.415, 11 Runs, 17 Hits, 4 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI) Yonder Alonso (.394, 7 Runs, 13 Hits, 2 2B, 3 HR, 12 RBI) anchor the lineup, but shortstop Ryan Jackson (.353, 7 Runs, 12 Hits, 1 HR, 7 RBI), catcher Jason Hagerty (.400, 8 Runs, 8 Hits, 3 HR, 7 RBI) and right fielder Adan Severino (.407, 8 Runs, 11 Hits, 2 HR, 5 RBI) have all been hot. Santana (2-0, 1.54 ERA) will make his second straight midweek start Tuesday while sophomore right-hander John Housey will start Wednesday against the Black Bears.
RECAPPING THE BOSTON COLLEGE SERIES
– Sophomore shortstop Ryan Jackson continued on his torrid streak of extra-base hits. Jackson hit his team-leading fifth double in the second inning. Of his 12 hits on the season, seven have gone for extra-bases including five doubles, one triple and one home run. Jackson hit .333 in three games against BC and drove in five runs.
– For the fourth straight game, Miami recorded double-digits in hits. UM had 14 hits in the series finale and 40 total hits in the BC series.
– Miami swept a team to open up ACC play for just the second time since joining the league in 2005. UM swept Virginia Tech in the 2006 ACC opener.
– Miami enjoyed a good weekend at the plate as a team. UM hit .381 in the BC series. UM homered eight times in the series and drove in 25 runs.
– UM pitchers posted a 3.00 ERA on the weekend, struck out 29 in 27 innings and held BC to a .238 batting average.
– Junior right fielder Adan Severino led the Hurricanes in hitting. Severino batted .636 (7-for-11) with four runs scored, one home run and three RBI.
– Junior second baseman Jemile Weeks hit .583 (7-for-12) in the BC series. Weeks had a double, a triple and a home run while driving in three runs.
– Sophomore catcher Jason Hagerty started the first two games behind the plate. He batted .571 in the series with two home runs and three RBI.
– Junior first baseman Yonder Alonso homered three times in the BC series and drove in a team-high six runs. He walked five times and hit .556 (5-for-9) with four runs scored. He slugged 1.556 and owned a .714 on-base percentage.
– Sophomore lefty Eric Erickson won his third game of the season in the series opener. Erickson allowed just one earned run in seven innings and struck out eight. Opponents are hitting just .198 against him this season.
– Freshman lefty Chris Hernandez won his second game in three starts and struck out four in seven innings. He allowed just four hits. On the season, opponents are hitting just .138 against him.
– Yonder Alonso’s two-homer game in game two of the series marked his first of the season and fourth of his career.
– Alonso hit home runs in back-to-back at bats for the second time in his career in the game two win. The first time he accomplished the feat was against Florida State, April 27, 2007.
– Sophomore right-hander Anthony Nalepa recorded his first career win in Saturday’s 8-3 win.
– Jason Hagerty’s two home runs in game one marked the first two-homer game for a Hurricane since Yonder Alonso accomplished the feat on April 27, 2007 against Florida State in Coral Gables.
– Jemile Weeks and Yonder Alonso hit back-to-back homers in the seventh inning in game one, marking the first time UM players hit back-to-back homers since Danny Valencia and Dennis Raben accomplished the feat, June 2, 2006 against San Francisco in the Lincoln Regional.
– When Jason Hagerty, Jemile Weeks, Yonder Alonso and Joey Terdoslavich all homered in the seventh inning, it marked the first four-homer inning for Miami since Pat Burrell, Aubrey Huff, Russ Jacobson and German Alvarez accomplished the feat on May 23, 1998 against South Carolina in the Coral Gables Regional.
– The last time UM had three homers in one inning was on May 2, 2003 when Joey Hooft, Ryan Braun and Gaby Sanchez accomplished the feat against Pace.
– Jemile Weeks moved within three triples of the UM career record when he hit his 15th career triple in the fifth inning.
– Sophomore LHP Eric Erickson struck out at least six batters for the third time this season. He now has 23 strikeouts in 19 2/3 innings.
HURRICANES IN THE POLLS
Miami moved up to No. 5 in both the USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll and National Collegiate Baseball Writer’s Association (NCBWA) poll. UM is No. 7 in the Baseball America poll. The Hurricanes are also ranked No. 2 by Rivals.com and No. 10 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. Perfect Game Crosschecker has the Hurricanes No. 3 in its poll.
ABOUT THE PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Penn State is in the midst of playing eight games in seven days down in the South Florida area. The Nittany Lions are taking part in the Papa John’s Palm Beach Challenge in Lantana, Fla.
ALL-TIME SERIES MIAMI vs. PENN STATE
The Hurricanes are 6-0 all-time against the Nittany Lions. The teams last met during the 2004 season.
UM vs. Penn State
1970 3/23 W, 5-4 Coral Gables
1971 3/29 W, 10-1 Coral Gables
1971 4/1 W, 6-5 Coral Gables
2004 3/27 W, 6-1 (DH) Coral Gables
2004 3/27 W, 1-0 (DH) Coral Gables
2004 3/28 W, 11-3 Coral Gables
ALL-TIME SERIES MIAMI vs. MAINE
The Hurricanes are 59-12 all-time against the Nittany Lions. The teams last met last season.
ALONSO NAMED ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior first baseman Yonder Alonso was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week Monday as announced by the league office. It was Alonso’s first ever ACC weekly honor. Alonso helped the Hurricanes finish the week with a 4-0 record including a three-game sweep of Boston College in both teams’ conference opener last weekend. In the series against the Eagles, he collected three home runs and drove in six RBI in nine at-bats and also walked five times. He wrapped up the week with a .583 batting average and a total of eight RBI. He also posted a 1.333 slugging percentage and was 2-of-3 in stolen base attempts. In the series opener against BC, he was a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBI and belted his first home run of the season in the seventh inning as Miami homered four times in the seventh to win the opener. In game two, Alonso hit back-to-back home runs in consecutive plate appearances. He had a solo homer in the bottom of the third before launching a three-run blast in the bottom of the fourth. He walked three times in his last seven plate appearances in the series which included an intentional walk.
WEEKS NAMED MUSCLE MILK STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Junior second baseman Jemile Weeks has been selected the Miami Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week for the period March 3-9.
Weeks helped Miami to a perfect 4-0 week including a 9-2 win over Lehigh and a three-game sweep of Boston College in the Atlantic Coast Conference opening series. He hit .588 (10-for-17) with six runs scored, two doubles, a triple and a home run. He added four RBI. He slugged 1.000 and owned a .611 own-base percentage. He was 4-of-5 in stolen bases.
Weeks started the week going 3-for-5 with a double and a career-high three stolen bases in the win over Lehigh. In the series opener against BC, he went 2-for-4 with a triple and a home run, which came in the seventh inning when the Hurricanes matched a school record with homers in the inning. Weeks collected two more hits in series clinching win in game two. He capped off the week going 3-for-4 with a run, a double and a RBI. On the season, Weeks leads the team batting .415 with a team-high 17 hits. He has four doubles, three home runs and 10 RBI, which ranks second on the team. He also has scored 11 times and is 5-of-6 in stolen base attempts.
