No. 1 Miami Completes Sweep of Saint Mary's, 15-3
May 4, 2008
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Junior right fielder Dennis Raben tied career-highs going 4-for-4 with four RBI including his sixth home run and No. 1 Miami tied a season-high with 17 hits in a 15-3 win over Saint Mary’s (Calif.) Sunday afternoon at Mark Light Field. Miami (39-5) picked up its sixth three-game series sweep of the season with the win, out-scoring Saint Mary’s (22-22-1) 30-to-9 on the weekend.
Raben, who tied career-highs in hits and RBI, reached base in all five plate appearances with a walk in the first inning, a single in the second, a home run in the fourth and two more singles in the sixth and seventh innings. Blake Tekotte had three hits for the sixth time this season, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored while three other Hurricanes – Mark Sobolewski, Adan Severino and Jason Hagerty – all finished with two hits.
Senior right-hander Enrique Garcia (4-1) earned the win for UM in his 10th start this season, allowing three runs on eight hits while walking three and striking out four in five innings of action. David Gutierrez tossed three effective innings in relief of Garcia, allowing just two hits while striking out four in three scoreless innings. Anthony Nalepa came on in relief of Gutierrez to toss a scoreless ninth.
SMC starter Justin Kuks (0-4) suffered the loss, giving up six earned runs on nine hits in four innings. Relievers Brandon Berl, Dorsey Ek and Jimmy Munill combined to toss the last four innings for the Gaels. Berl allowed one run in two innings. Ek gave up five in the seventh inning and Munill tossed a scoreless eighth.
Kenny Fuglerud recorded his third multiple-hit game of the weekend, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Kyle Jensen, Ryan Mulligan and Anthony Aliotti each went 2-for-4 with Mulligan and Jensen knocking all three runs for the Gaels.
An Alonso sacrifice fly to left scored Tekotte, who led off the game with single, from third for the first of four first inning runs. The Hurricanes then loaded the bases on a SMC fielding error and back-to-back walks before Severino hit the first of his two doubles clearing the bags to put UM up 4-0.
The Hurricanes increased their lead to 7-0 in the second inning. Hagerty led off with a single and after Tekotte was hit by a pitch and Weeks hit an infield single, another Alonso sacrifice fly scored Hagerty from third. Sobolewski followed with a walk before Raben smacked a single to left, scoring Tekotte and Weeks.
Saint Mary’s plated its first run in the third when Mulligan’s RBI groundout scored Fuglerud from third getting the Gaels within, 7-1.
One inning later, Alonso led off with a single to right and after advancing to second on a Sobolewski sacrifice bunt, Raben smacked his sixth homer of the season to left-center, pushing the lead to 9-1.
The Gaels used a walk and three straight hits in the fifth to cut UM’s lead to 9-3. Cory Miller’s double down the left field line scored Fuglerud from first for the first run of the inning. Jensen’s infield single put runners on the corners before Mulligan singled up the middle to bring home Miller.
UM added one run in the sixth and five more in the seventh – highlighted by a DiNatale three-run double – to reach the 15-run mark for the seventh time this season.
The Hurricanes will return to action next weekend when they travel to Blacksburg, Va. to take on Virginia Tech for a three-game set, May 9-11.
Game and Series Notes
-The Hurricanes scored multiple runs in the first inning for the fourth time in the last five contests.
-The sweep over Saint Mary’s was Miami’s sixth three-game sweep this season.
-Miami scored double-digit runs for the third time in the last four games and 20th time this season. The Hurricanes also reached the 15-run mark for the seventh time this season.
-Junior right fielder Dennis Raben tied career-high marks in hits (4) and RBI (4). Raben hit .538 (7-for-13) with five runs scored, one double and one home run while driving in six runs. He slugged .846.
-Junior centerfielder Blake Tekotte recorded at least three hits for the sixth time this season.
– Miami hit .378 in the series against the Gaels. UM’s pitching staff posted a 3.00 team ERA on the weekend.
– Junior first baseman Yonder Alonso hit .667 (4-for-6) for the weekend with six runs scored, two home runs and six RBI. He walked three times and slugged 1.667.
– Junior left fielder Adan Severino also had a good weekend hitting .556 with two doubles and six RBI.
-UM-
