Miami Baseball To Host Miami Dade College and Indian River
Nov. 5, 2008
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami baseball team will host a pair of scrimmages against South Florida colleges this week as the Hurricanes will take on Miami Dade College on Thursday, Nov. 6 and Indian River Community College on Friday, Nov. 7 at Mark Light Field.
The 2009 Hurricanes, nearly a month into their fall practice season, will be on display for the second and third times this fall after hosting the team’s annual alumni game two weeks ago. Both scrimmages this week are slated to start at 6 p.m. and are free to the public.
Since the start of fall practice on Oct. 9, the team has held a total of nine intrasquad scrimmages, five before and four after the alumni game that the current `Canes won 2-0. After this week’s scrimmages, the team will play its Orange-Green Fall World Series from Nov. 12-15 before closing out the fall slate with the team’s Pro Scout day on Nov. 22.
In UM’s first action this fall against another opponent, seven Hurricanes combined to shut out the alumni team in a seven-inning contest on Oct. 24. The top two spots in UM’s lineup – a combination of juniors Ryan Jackson and Jonathan Weislow and freshman Nathan Melendres – combined to get on base in 7-of-8 plate appearances. Jackson led the `Canes at the plate with a 3-for-4 night, smacking a pair of singles and a third-inning double.
The 2009 UM baseball team features 19 returning players – including 16 letterwinners – from last year’s team that reached the College World Series and finished with an overall record of 53-11.
Among the players returning this season include left-handers Chris Hernandez, Collegiate Baseball’s National Freshman Pitcher of the Year, and Eric Erickson, a two-time All-ACC performer, as well as Jackson, a first-team All-ACC selection at shortstop in 2008.
Joining the program this year is a 13-member signing class that was ranked as the No. 7 class nationally by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s annual evaluation of NCAA Division I baseball classes. Five pitchers and eight position players make up the class that includes nine players from South Florida, one from Central Florida and three from the state of Texas. All three players from the state of Texas enter the program via junior colleges, while nine of the 10 freshmen hail from Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Last fall, the Hurricanes defeated Barry, 13-6, and Indian River, 12-5, in the team’s two fall scrimmages.
