Nazario Pitches No. 2 Miami Past No. 3 Georgia Tech, 6-2
March 29, 2009
CORAL GABLES, Fla. –Starter Iden Nazario struck out a career-high 10 in seven innings of work and Scott Lawson hit a three-run homer in to break a 2-2 tie in the fourth as No. 2 Miami beat No. 3 Georgia Tech, 6-2, Sunday afternoon at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.
Nazario (3-0), whose seven innings pitched was also a career-high, allowed two early runs but settled down, allowing six hits and just one walk to go along with UM’s first double-digit strikeout performance of the season. Closer Kyle Bellamy relieved Nazario in the eighth and recorded his fourth inning-plus save of the season and his seventh overall, striking out three over the final two innings.
Miami improved to 20-7 overall and 8-4 in ACC play while Georgia Tech drops to 18-4 and 8-2 in league play.
Lawson, who finished the game 1-for-3, reached base three times, adding a pair of walks. Jason Hagerty was the lone Hurricane with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a triple, an RBI and a run. In addition to Lawson and Hagerty, six other `Canes recorded a hit, including Yasmani Grandal who hit his team-leading seventh homer of the season in the eighth inning.
With the game knotted at two in the fourth, Ryan Jackson singled, Nathan Melendres walked and after Ted Blackman popped up to short, Lawson smacked a 2-1 pitch over the wall in right, putting the `Canes up three to give Nazario all the run support he would need.
Yellow Jacket starter Kevin Jacob (4-1) suffered the loss, allowing five runs on seven hits in 3 2/3 innings. Five Tech relievers combined to throw the final 4 1/3 innings.
Derek Dietrich had the best day at the plate for Tech, going 3-for-4 with an RBI.
Georgia Tech got on the board first for the first time in the series, as Derek Dietrich doubled with no outs, scoring Jeff Rowland, who led off the game with a single to left. Nazario was able to strike out the next three batters however, leaving Dietrich stranded on second.
In the bottom half of the first, Lawson was robbed of a solo homerun by Tech’s centerfielder Rowland after a shot deep to right-centerfield was brought back into the ballpark.
After Tech went up 2-0 on a Jason Garofalo solo homerun, the `Canes evened the score with a run in the second and another in the third.
Jason Hagerty tripled to center to lead off the second, and scored three batters later on an RBI single by Harold Martinez.
A pair of throwing errors by Garofalo helped Miami tie it up in the third. Melendres singled to open the inning and moved over to second on a throwing error by Garofalo at second. After a 13-minute rain delay in the middle of Lawson’s at-bat, he was able to reach first on another throwing error by Garofalo. With runners on the corners, Hagerty singled in Melendres to tie it up at two.
Up 5-2 after Lawson’s homer, UM kept Georgia Tech scoreless the remainder of the contest, and would eventually win 6-2 after Grandal’s late solo homer.
Miami will continue its nine-game homestand when it hosts Barry University on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. The Hurricanes will return to ACC play next weekend when in-state rival Florida State visits Alex Rodriguez Park, April 3-5.
Game Notes
– Iden Nazario set a career-high with 10 strikeouts in the game.
– Nazario set his career high with 7.0 innings pitched.
– Miami left 15 runners on base, including the bases-loaded three straight innings (3rd-5th).
– Kyle Bellamy recorded his fourth inning-plus save of the season.
– There was a 13-minute rain delay in the bottom of the third inning.
Series Notes
– It was Miami’s first series loss since dropping two-of-three to North Carolina last season (5/15-17).
– Georgia Tech hit nine homeruns off Hurricane pitchers in the series. The Hurricanes hit two in the series, with both coming in Sunday’s game.
-Miami second baseman Scott Lawson hit .667 (6-for-9) in the series with two doubles, a homer, six walks, seven RBI, six runs scored and 11 total bases. He raised his season batting average to a team-best .380.
– Jason Hagerty also had a big weekend at the plate, going 6-for-13 with six RBI.
