Santana Beats FAU a Third Time as No. 7 Miami Wins, 3-1
April 14, 2009
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Jason Santana allowed just one run in a career-high seven innings of work to earn his team-leading sixth win of the season as No. 7 Miami beat FAU, 3-1, Tuesday night at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.
The win for Miami (26-10) secured the season sweep over FAU (17-16), after the Hurricanes beat the Owls 13-6 in Boca Raton on March 25 and 8-7 last Tuesday in Coral Gables.
Santana (6-0) earned his third win over the Owls in 21 days, allowing just one earned on five hits before handing it over to the bullpen in the eighth. With a 3-1 lead, Daniel Miranda tossed a scoreless eighth before Kyle Bellamy came on in the ninth to secure his league-leading 10th save of the season.
Tied 1-1 after four, Yasmani Grandal’s bloop single to center in the fifth scored Nathan Melendres from third for what would prove to be the game-winning run. An inning later, Hagerty doubled to right-center, scoring Scott Lawson from first for an insurance run.
Lawson, Hagerty and Harold Martinez all finished with two hits on the night for UM. Lawson was 2-for-3 with a walk and a run, Hagerty went 2-for-4 with a run and a RBI while Martinez was also 2-for-4 with a RBI.
FAU jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the third. David Wilson led off the frame with a triple to right and two batters later scored on a ground-out to first.
The Hurricanes loaded the bases with one out in the fourth when Martinez’s fielder’s choice grounder scored Jason Hagerty from third to tie the game at 1-1.
FAU starter Brent Adheen, making his third start against UM this season, allowed just one run on three hits in four innings of work. Ryan Garton (0-1) came on in the fifth and gave up the deciding run in his only inning of work. From there, four Owl relievers went the distance, only allowing the one late run in the seventh.
For the Owls, David Wilson went 2-for-4 with a run scored while Nick Criaris finished 2-for-2.
The Hurricanes will return to the road this weekend as they travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., April 17-19, to face No. 4 North Carolina in a battle of two Top 10 ACC teams. Game one of the three-game series is slated for Friday night at 7 p.m. at Boshamer Stadium.
Game Notes
– Miami completes its season sweep of FAU, winning one game in Boca Raton and two in Coral Gables to improve to 44-8 all-time against the Owls.
– Jason Hagerty extended his team season-high hitting streak to 13 games.
– Jason Santana tossed a career-high seven innings and allowed just one earned run.
– Miami has now come from behind in 19 of its 26 wins.
– Kyle Bellamy earned his ACC-leading 10th save of the season. His team-best ERA also improved to 1.40 on the year.
