No. 10 Miami Heads to Gainesville to Face No. 12 Florida
Feb. 26, 2009
CORAL GABLES, Fla. –After taking three-of-four from Rutgers in its season-opening series at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field, the 10th-ranked University of Miami baseball team makes its first road trip of 2009 when it heads to Gainesville to face in-state rival Florida, Feb. 27 – March 1.
The `Canes (3-1) and Gators (5-0) will square off three times over the weekend at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium at Perry Field, with the series set to open Friday night at 6:30 p.m. Miami opened the newly-renovated Alex Rodriguez Park with a four-game series against the Scarlet Knights this past weekend, with the `Canes winning games one, two and four of the series.
In the finale on Sunday, UM won 18-9 behind two homers and six RBI from junior Jason Hagerty, while sophomore left-hander Iden Nazario tossed six effective innings to earn his first career win in his first career start. Sophomore Yasmani Grandal and junior Scott Lawson both had big weekends offensively for Miami. Grandal reached base on 10 of his 13 plate appearances and finished the weekend with two homers and team-highs in both runs (5) and walks (6). Making his debut for the Hurricanes, Lawson had a team-high seven hits, including four doubles.
The Hurricanes picked up strong performances from three of their starting pitchers against Rutgers, with Chris Hernandez (6 IP, 1 ER, 7 K), David Gutierrez (5 IP, 1 ER, 5 K) and Nazario (6 IP, 3 ER, 8 K) all putting in quality starts for Miami.
UM is hitting .336 as a team and has five home runs, nine doubles and two triples in 113 at-bats. The pitching staff boasts a 3.38 ERA, allowing 12 runs on 25 hits while striking out 33 and walking just eight in 32 innings of work.
Florida is coming off a series sweep of Louisville and back-to-back mid-week wins over Eastern Michigan. The Gators’ pitching staff has been effective in the early going, allowing just 12 earned runs in 45 innings. Offensively, Florida is hitting .343 as a team.
The second game of this weekend’s series is slated for Saturday at 2 p.m. while Sunday’s finale, which is set to be televised by Sun Sports, will start at 12 p.m.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
GAME 1: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 6:30 P.M.
PROBABLE STARTERS: MIAMI – LHP Chris Hernandez (1-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. FLORIDA – RHP Patrick Keating (1-0, 2.57 ERA)
RADIO: 90.5 WVUM
GAME 2: SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2 P.M.
PROBABLE STARTERS: MIAMI – RHP David Gutierrez (0-0, 1.80 ERA) vs. FLORIDA – LHP Alex Panteliodis(1-0, 3.00)
RADIO: 90.5 WVUM
GAME 3: SUNDAY, MARCH 1, 12 p.m.
PROBABLE STARTERS: MIAMI – LHP Iden Nazario (1-0, 4.50 ERA) vs. FLORIDA – LHP Nick Maronde (0-0, 0.00)
TV: SUNSPORTS
RADIO: 90.5 WVUM
FLORIDA REPORT
Florida’s top two hitters this season – Josh Adams and Avery Barnes – are a combined 17-for-35 through five games. Adams leads the team with a .500 average, going 10-for- 20 with a double, triple, four RBI and seven runs scored. Barnes leads all regulars on the team in several offensive categories, including runs (9), slugging percentage (.800), on-base percentage (.600) and stolen bases (3). Riley Cooper is also off to a strong start, opening the season 7-for-18 with a homer, a team-high three doubles, and six runs scored. The Gators’ three weekend starters – Patrick Keating, Alex Panteliodis and Nick Maronde – tossed a combined 19.1 inning against Louisville this past weekend and allowed only four combined earned runs. Reliever Billy Bullock leads the team with three appearances and has held his opponents scoreless in four innings of work. Bullock also owns the team’s only save, which came in the Gators’ season-opening 6-3 win over the Cardinals last Friday.
MIAMI VS. FLORIDA
Miami holds a 119-93-1 advantage over Florida in the all-time series between the two schools, but trails the Gators, 42-57-1 in games played in Gainesville. Heading into this weekend’s series, the Hurricanes have won three of the last four meetings with the Gators, including taking two of three from UF last year in Coral Gables. The two teams first met in 1940 and have met every season since 1960 (49 straight seasons).
AFTER FLORIDA
Following this weekend’s series against the Gators in Gainesville, the Hurricanes will return to Alex Rodriguez Park for 12 straight home games in a span of 16 days from March 3-18. The homestand opens with Rhode Island on Tuesday, March 3, followed by a game against Mount St. Mary’s on Wednesday before ACC foe NC State comes to Coral Gables for a three-game set from March 6-8.
MORRIS TWO WINS AWAY FROM 700 VICTORIES AT MIAMI
Head coach Jim Morris needs just two more victories to reach the 700-win mark as Miami’s skipper. Currently fifth among active Division I coaches in career wins, Morris won his 1,200th game as a Division I head coach against Rutgers in UM’s season-opener on Feb. 20. With that milestone win, Morris became just the 18th coach in the history of D-I collegiate baseball.
LAWSON’S DEBUT
A number of newcomers had solid opening weekends but none was more impressive than junior college transfer Scott Lawson’s. Batting second and starting all four games at second base, Lawson finished the season-opening four-game series going 7-for-16 (.438) with a home run, four doubles, four runs, four RBI and a team-best 14 total bases. He already owns two eventual game-winning hits this year, including an RBI single in the fifth of the season-opener that broke a 1-1 tie against Rutgers.
BRAUN, CORA, GUTIERREZ TO PLAY IN WBC
Former Hurricanes Ryan Braun (USA), Alex Cora (Puerto Rico) and Carlos Gutierrez (Puerto Rico) have been selected to play in next month’s World Baseball Classic. Cora, a shortstop at Miami from 1994-96, is one of six infielders on Puerto Rico’s roster, while Gutierrez, UM’s closer last season, is one of 14 pitchers on the squad. Braun, an All-Star last year with the Milwaukee Brewers, is one of four outfielders on Team USA.
