Miami Baseball Earns Second Top 25 Preseason Ranking
Jan. 12, 2009
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami baseball team earned its second Top 25 preseason ranking Monday as Rivals.com tabbed the Hurricanes at No. 23 it its 2009 preseason countdown poll. The `Canes, who were recently tabbed as the No. 18 team nationally in Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s preseason poll, boast three preseason All-Americans in pitchers Chris Hernandez and Kyle Bellamy and shortstop Ryan Jackson.
The 2009 Hurricanes feature 19 returning players – including 16 letterwinners – from last year’s 53-11 team that reached the College World Series for the 11th time in head coach Jim Morris’ 15-year tenure at UM.
Hernandez, selected a first team preseason All-American by both Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, returns after a freshman campaign that saw him go 11-0 with a 2.72 ERA in 17 starts. Jackson – a first-team selection by the NCBWA – hit .360 with four homers and 50 RBI his sophomore season in 2008 while junior Bellamy – an NCBWA second-teamer – had a team-best 1.86 ERA as the team’s set-up man last year.
In addition to the three preseason All-Americans on the roster, Miami returns outfielder Dave DiNatale (.295, 9 HR, 43 RBI) and catcher/first baseman Jason Hagerty (.289, 8 HR, 38 RBI) to its lineup as well as right-hander David Gutierrez (5-0, 4.75 ERA, 40 K) to its rotation.
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 or Palm Beach counties.
Last season, Miami was tabbed No. 2 in the Rivals.com preseason poll before finishing the season at No. 5.
Miami opens its 2009 season at newly-renovated Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field on Friday, Feb. 20 against Rutgers. For ticket information for the 2009 season, call 1-800-GO-CANES, visit www.hurricanesports.com or email canestix@miami.edu.
