Miami Baseball Moves Up to No. 2 in Latest Polls

March 24, 2008

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CORAL GABLES, <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Fla. – The Miami Hurricanes Baseball team moved up to No. 2 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writer’s Association (NCBWA) poll and No. 3 in the latest USA Today/ESPN Top 25 poll released Monday. Miami (17-2, 7-1 ACC) is one of three Atlantic Coast Conference teams ranked in the top five and one of four ranked in the top 15 in the coaches’ poll.

Miami remained No. 2 in the Rivals.com poll just behind No. 1 Arizona State. The Hurricanes moved up a spot to No. 4 in the Baseball America poll. UM also jumped to No. 6 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll.

The Hurricanes are fresh off a series win over WakeForest. UM outscored the Demon Deacons, 40-6 in two games and hit 10 home runs. Miami has now won 12 of its last 13 games. The 23-2 win over WakeForest was the fifth straight game that Miami scored 10 or more runs, which tied a school record. The last time a Miami team scored at least 10 runs in five consecutive games was the 1998 team (L, 14-10 to Florida; defeated Lynn, 18-3, defeated, Notre Dame, 18-3, defeated Notre Dame, 27-2, defeated Notre Dame, 17-3).

Junior second baseman Jemile Weeks hit .462 last week. Against the Demon Deacons, he hit .444 (4-for-9), scored three runs, homered twice and drove in six RBI. In four games on the week, he posted a team-high eight RBI, slugged 1.077 and owned a .529 on-base percentage. In ACC play, Weeks is hitting .500  (17-for-34) with three doubles, two triples, four home runs and a team-high 14 RBI. He’s slugging 1.059.

The Hurricanes are now hitting .341 as a team while the pitching staff has compiled a 3.40 team ERA.

Miami wraps up a seven-game homestand Tuesday at 7 p.m. and Wednesday at 6 p.m. with a midweek series against Bethune-Cookman (14-7). Sophomore RHP John Housey (1-0, 5.25 ERA) will start on Tuesday and face Bethune-Cookman freshman left-hander Samuel Rodriguez (1-0, 4.40 ERA). Sophomore David Gutierrez will make his first career start Wednesday and face Bethune-Cookman right-hander Felix Machado (2-1, 4.12 ERA).

NCBWA Mar. 24 Division I Poll (www.ncbwa.com)

Rank-School-Conference-Overall Record-Previous Rank (Records Through Mar. 23)

1 ArizonaState Pacific-10 22-1 1

2 Miami (Fla.) Atlantic Coast 17-2 4

3 North Carolina ACC 18-4 3

4 Florida State ACC 19-2 5

5 Long Beach State Big West 16-3 7

6 Arizona Pac-10                 13-5 2

7 South Carolina Southeastern 15-5 8

8 Missouri Big 12 18-2 11

9 UC Irvine Big West 16-2 9

10 Texas Big 12 16-6 10

11 Vanderbilt SEC 14-6 6

12 Rice Conference USA 17-6 13

13 Wichita State Missouri Valley 14-3 15

14 Kentucky SEC 20-2 12

15 Virginia ACC 19-4 20

16 San Diego West Coast 16-7 22

17 Mississippi SEC 15-8 14

18 Coastal Carolina Big South 18-4 18

19 Clemson ACC 14-7 21

20 Texas A&M Big 12 17-6 19

21 Cal State Fullerton Big West 12-8 23

22 Oklahoma State Big 12 15-6 26

23 Baylor Big 12 13-7 16

24 UCLA Pac-10 10-8 17

25 OregonState Pac-10 9-7 25

26 Florida SEC 17-4 NR

27 Georgia Tech ACC 17-5 28

28 California Pac-10 15-4-1 24

29 Stanford Pac-10 9-5 27

30 Nebraska Big 12 17-3-1 NR

USA TODAY/ESPN TOP 25 COACHES’ POLL — March 24, 2008

  The USA TODAY/ESPN Top 25 baseball coaches’ poll, with RECORDS THROUGH SUNDAY, total points based on 25 points for first place through one point for 25th, ranking in last week’s poll and first-place votes received:

                                                                                                                     Last week’s               First-place

  Rank        School (record)                                  Points                             rank                           votes

  1.               Arizona State (22-1)                            773                                    1                                 30

  2.               Florida State (19-2)                             705                                    3                                    0

  3.               Miami (Fla.) (17-2)                              680                                    5                                    0

  4.               North Carolina (18-4)                         659                                    4                                    0

  5.               Long Beach State (16-3)                   626                                    6                                    0

  6.               Missouri (18-2)                                    607                                    9                                    0

  7.               UC-Irvine (16-2)                                   561                                    7                                    1

  8.               Arizona (13-5)                                      541                                    2                                    0

  9.               South Carolina (15-5)                        499                                    12                                 0

  10.            Texas (16-6)                                         419                                    14                                 0

  11.            Wichita State (14-3)                            372                                    16                                 0

  12.            Rice (17-6)                                           370                                    15                                 0

  13.            Vanderbilt (14-6)                                 321                                    8                                    0

  14.            Kentucky (20-2)                                   308                                    11                                 0

  15.            Virginia (19-4)                                      281                                    19                                 0

  16.            Mississippi (15-8)                               268                                    10                                 0

  17.            Nebraska (17-3-1)                              247                                    24                                 0

  18.            Florida (17-4)                                       225                                    not ranked                   0

  19.            California (15-4-1)                              217                                    22                                 0

  20.            Coastal Carolina (18-4)                     188                                    21                                 0

  21.            Stanford (9-5)                                       171                                    18                                 0

  22.            Texas A&M (17-6)                                145                                    17                                 0

  23.            San Diego (16-7)                                117                                    not ranked                   0

  24.            UCLA (10-8)                                         108                                    20                                 0

  25.            Cal StateFullerton (12-8)                  106                                    25                                 0