No. 8 Miami Opens 12-Game Homestand Tuesday Against Rhode Island
March 2, 2009
CBS College Sports Breaks Down The Hurricanes
CORAL GABLES, FLA. — Just two days after completing a three-game sweep of No. 12 Florida in Gainesville, the eighth-ranked University of Miami baseball team embarks on a 12-game homestand at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field, beginning with a contest against Rhode Island Tuesday, March 3 at 6 p.m.
The Hurricanes (6-1), who will play their next 12 games in a span of 16 days, will host another mid-week foe in Mount St. Mary’s on Wednesday at 6 p.m. before opening Atlantic Coast Conference play with NC State this upcoming weekend.
Miami is coming off head coach Jim Morris’ most successful trip to Gainesville in his UM career, as the `Canes out-scored the Gators 24-8 in the three-game set. Morris, who earned his 700th win at Miami on Saturday, had never won a series in Gainesville in his 15 seasons at the helm of the UM program.
The Hurricanes opened the series with an 8-5 win on Friday night behind senior outfielder Jonathan Weislow’s two-home run, five-RBI performance. Weislow, who had come into the game having never homered in his collegiate career, hit what would prove to be the game-winner with a three-run blast in the sixth inning off UF starter Patrick Keating.
UM clinched the series on Saturday behind seven scoreless innings from junior starter and ACC Pitcher of the Week David Gutierrez. Weislow again played a key role in the `Canes victory, scoring both of Miami’s runs in the 2-1 win. In the finale on Sunday, Miami won 16-2 with four Hurricanes recording at least three hits. Dave DiNatale led the way with a 4-for-6, three-RBI, three-run performance while Chris Herrmann, Yasmani Grandal and Scott Lawson all finishing with three hits. As a team, the Hurricanes tallied 20 hits – the highest single game total for any UM team since the `Canes had 26 against Virginia on April 24, 2004.
Dave DiNatale is leading the `Canes in hitting on the year, going 10-for-23 (.435) with two doubles, four RBI and seven runs scored. Weislow, who had eight runs and eight RBI in his career coming into the 2009 season, is hitting .300 with two homers, seven RBI and seven runs scored through seven games this year.
Gutierrez has been UM’s most effective starter thus far, allowing just one earned run in a team-high 12 innings. Fellow starters Chris Hernandez and Iden Nazario have combined to win all four of their starts, with the pair collecting 27 strikeouts in 22 innings of work.
Closer Kyle Bellamy headlines a bullpen that has allowed just seven earned runs in 22 combined innings. Bellamy already has three saves and has yet to allow an earned run in 3 1/3 innings. Freshman Travis Miller has also pitched well, holding opponents scoreless in four innings of work.
RHODE ISLAND REPORT
Rhode Island enters Tuesday’s matchup sporting a record of 4-2 on the year with notable wins against NC State (11-8) and a two-game series sweep of Duquesne (10-6, 13-2). They most recently defeated Fairfield Monday in a tournament over in Winter Haven, Fla. The Rams are led at the plate by four players hitting above a .400-clip, including shortstop Dan Rhault (.500) and designated hitter Jeff Cammans (.450) who have a combined 20 hits and 10 runs between them. The Rams hold a team ERA of 4.91 while slugging away at opponents for an average of 7.16 earned runs per game. Nick Greenwood (1-1) and Tim Boyce (1-0) have wins for Rhody as starters, while reliever Luke Demko has a record of 1-1 out of the bullpen.
MOUNT ST. MARY’S REPORT
Mount St. Mary’s dropped their first three games of the season, falling to Indiana State (1-9), Villanova (5-7) and St. Bonaventure (6-10). The Mount will play one more game (vs. New York Tech on Tuesday) prior to Wednesday’s game against the `Canes. Kyle Kane comes in as one of the hottest hitters for Mount Saint Mary’s, having went 5-for-7 with two walks and a pair of RBI in the team’s double-header on Sunday.
AFTER URI & THE MOUNT
Following this week’s games against Rhode Island and Mount St. Mary’s, the `Canes will begin ACC play when they play host to NC State in a three-game set at Alex Rodriguez Park, March 6-8. The last time the two teams met in Coral Gables, the Wolfpack won two-of-three games against the `Canes. Last year, UM won two-of-three games in Raleigh.
`CANES MOVING UP IN POLLS
After sweeping the Gators this past weekend, the `Canes made major jumps in the top college baseball polls released on Monday, moving from No. 14 to No. 8 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll, No. 14 to No. 10 in the Collegiate Baseball poll and No. 20 to No. 14 in the Rivals.com poll. Baseball America also jumped the `Canes from being unranked to No. 15 in its most recent poll while UM moved up one spot in the NCBWA poll to No. 9.
MORRIS REACHES TWO MILESTONES
Six games into the 2009 season, head coach Jim Morris has already reached two coaching milestones as he recorded his 1,200th win as a Division I head coach in UM’s season opener before recording his 700th win at Miami on Saturday in Gainesville. Currently fifth among active Division I coaches in career wins, Morris became just the 18th coach in the history of D-I collegiate baseball to reach the 1,200-win mark with UM’s 6-1 win over Rutgers on Feb. 20. Former UM head coach Ron Fraser, who coached UM from 1963-1992 and , is 12th all-time in D-I history with 1,267 career wins.
WEISLOW’S WEEKEND
Senior outfielder Jonathan Weislow had a breakout weekend for UM at Florida, hitting the first two home runs of his collegiate career in UM’s 8-5 win Friday night. He finished the weekend leading the team in average (.444), runs (6), home runs (2), RBI (5), total bases (10) and slugging percentage (1.111) while ranking second in walks (4) and on-base percentage (.643). Weislow played a key role in Miami’s first two wins on the weekend. His second homer on Friday – a three-run blast in the sixth inning – proved to be the game-winner, while he also scored UM’s only two runs in Saturday’s 2-1 win.
DAVID’S DEVELOPMENT
After splitting time between the bullpen and the starting rotation last year, junior right-hander David Gutierrez has opened the 2009 season as the Hurricanes’ No. 2 starter behind sophomore All-American Chris Hernandez and he has performed well in that role thus far. Gutierrez, who went 5-0 with a 4.75 ERA in 2008, has opened the 2009 season with a 1-0 record and a miniscule 0.75 ERA in his two starts. Against Rutgers, he allowed just one earned run while striking out five in five innings of work. This past weekend, he shut down a Gators’ offense that was averaging 8.8 runs per game coming in, tossing a career-high seven scoreless inning to improve his career record to 8-0.
