Miami Baseball Remains No. 1, Hosts UNF Tuesday
May 12, 2008
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CORAL GABLES, <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Fla. – The University of Miami Baseball team held on to the No. 1 spot in the latest USA Today/ESPN Top 25 coaches, Baseball America, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper polls released Monday making UM the consensus No. 1 team for the sixth straight week.
The Atlantic Coast Conference continues to have the top three teams ranked in two major college baseball polls as North Carolina (No. 2 in Baseball America, NCBWA, Collegiate Baseball, USA Today/ESPN Top 25) and Florida State (No. 3 in the NCBWA and USA Today/ESPN Top25) also represent the conference.
Miami (41-6, 22-3 ACC) also held the top spot in the Rivals.com, PingBaseball, Perfect Game Crosschecker and CollegeBaseballhub.com polls.
The Hurricanes are fresh off their 12th weekend series win of the season and 15th straight dating back to last season. Junior centerfielder Blake Tekotte batted .545 (6-for-11) with three home runs, a double and five runs scored while sophomore shortstop Ryan Jackson hit .455 in the series. Tekotte hit three home runs in the series opener and tied the school record set by Kevin Brown on May 27, 2001 vs. Stetson. He recorded his second multiple home run game for the Hurricanes this season. Tekotte also homered in consecutive plate appearances for the second time this season. Freshman lefty Chris Hernandez improved to 9-0 with a 2.70 ERA while senior right-hander Enrique Garcia moved to 5-1 on the season. Miami also scored at 10 least 10 runs in a game for the 21st time in the series opener.
UM hosts North Florida (27-24) Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at Mark Light Field. Sophomore right-hander David Gutierrez (2-0, 3.51 ERA) will start and face UNF RHP Jonathan Turner (0-4, 7.26 ERA).
The Hurricanes wrap up ACC play Thursday, Friday and Saturday with a showdown with No. 2 North Carolina. Game times are 7 p.m., 7 p.m. and 1 p.m.
-UM-
