Hurricanes Earn No. 1 Ranking
April 7, 2008
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CORAL GABLES, <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Fla. – The Miami Hurricanes Baseball team took over the No. 1 spot in the latest USA Today/ESPN Top 25, Baseball America and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) polls released Monday. It is the first time since the 2004 season that Miami (26-2, 12-1 ACC) has earned a No. 1 ranking.
The Hurricanes are one of three Atlantic Coast Conference teams ranked in the top four as FloridaState comes in at No. 2 and North Carolina No. 4 in both polls.
Miami also climbed to No. 1 in the Rivals.com poll. The Hurricanes may also take over the top spot in the, which will be released later today. Miami moved to No. 3 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll.
The Hurricanes are coming off a perfect 5-0 week which saw UM sweep an Atlantic Coast Conference series from Clemson over the weekend. UM also won midweek contests over Florida Atlantic and Florida International. Miami is riding a 13-game winning streak heading into Tuesday night’s home contest with FloridaGulfCoast (25-8).
Junior centerfielder Blake Tekotte is in the midst of a 15-game hitting streak for the Hurricanes. He’s been hitting .481 with 16 RBI and 26 hits. Last week, he went 8-for-20 with 11 runs scored, five doubles, two home runs and seven RBI. Fellow junior outfielder Dave DiNatale had the hot bat for the Hurricanes last week. He hit .471 (8-for-17) with two doubles, a triple, three home runs and 11 RBI. All three of his home runs proved to be game-winners. For the week, he slugged 1.235 and owned a .550 on-base percentage. Sophomore right-hander Kyle Bellamy won twice this past weekend against Clemson as he struck out eight in 4 2/3 innings.
The Hurricanes are now hitting .340 as a team while the pitching staff has compiled a 3.62 team ERA.
Miami wraps up a five-game homestand when the Hurricanes host Florida Gulf Coast at 7 p.m. Tuesday and Florida Atlantic Wednesday at 7 p.m. Sophomore RHP David Gutierrez (1-0, 2.76 ERA) is expected to face FGCU RHP Casey Coleman (3-2, 5.56 ERA).
