No. 16 Miami Opens ACC Championship with Georgia Tech Wednesday
May 19, 2009
DURHAM, N.C. – The 16th-ranked and fifth-seeded University of Miami baseball team is set to play in the opening game of the 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Championship versus fourth-seeded Georgia Tech on Wednesday, May 20 at 12 p.m. at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Miami (35-18, 18-12) enters the tournament having won its last three ACC series, moving up to the No. 5 seed to join top-seeded Florida State, the Yellow Jackets and eighth-seeded Boston College in the Division A pool of the tournament.
The `Canes went 5-4 against their pool opponents during the regular season, taking two-of-three from both FSU and BC while dropping two-of-three to Georgia Tech.
UM is coming off one if it’s most productive offensive series in recent years, scoring 46 runs over three games in a series sweep at Wake Forest to close out the regular season. The `Canes won 23-5 and 19-6 in the first two games of the series, before clinching the sweep with a 4-2 win in the finale. Chris Herrmann (.346, 8 HR, 41 RBI) was named ACC Player of the Week for his performance in Winston-Salem, in which the junior went 10-for-13 with two homers, eight RBI, eight runs scored and a .824 on-base percentage. Kyle Bellamy (3-1, 1.09 ERA) earned his 15th save of the season in the series finale.
Three games are slated for each of the first four days of the tournament, with all eight teams guaranteed to play at least three games in pool play. The winners of each division will meet up in the championship game, May 24 at 1 p.m. Division B is comprised of second-seeded North Carolina, third-seeded Clemson, sixth-seeded Virginia and seventh-seeded Duke.
The Hurricanes closed out the regular season winning 9-of-13 weekend series, including series wins at No. 12 Florida, at No. 7 Virginia, and home against No. 23 Florida State. The last three ACC weekends, UM has took out of three from Virginia Tech (4/24-26) and Boston College (5/1-3) before sweeping the Demon Deacons (5/14-16) to close out the regular season.
UM’S CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
GAME 1: WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 12 P.M.
PROBABLE STARTERS
MIAMI – TBA vs. GEORGIA TECH – TBA
RADIO: 560 WQAM, 1450 ESPN DEPORTES, 90.5 WVUM
TV: Sun Sports–Live
GAME 2: THURSDAY, MAY 21, 4 P.M.
PROBABLE STARTERS
MIAMI – TBA vs. FLORIDA STATE – LHP Brian Busch (5-2, 3.48 ERA)
RADIO: 560 WQAM, 1450 ESPN DEPORTES, 90.5 WVUM
TV: TV: Sun Sports–tape delay at 11pm; Live on DirecTV 656 and Dish 447
GAME 3: FRIDAY, MAY 22, 12 P.M.
PROBABLE STARTERS
MIAMI – TBA vs. BOSTON COLLEGE – TBA
RADIO: 560 WQAM, 1450 ESPN DEPORTES, 90.5 WVUM
TV: Fox Sports Florida–Live
GEORGIA TECH REPORT
The Yellow Jackets enter the ACC Championship with a record of 34-15-1 overall and 17-10-1 in ACC play. This past weekend, Georgia Tech lost two of three at Duke to close out its regular season. The Yellow Jackets finished just ahead of UM in the Coastal Division standings. Luke Murton is Georgia Tech’s top hitter, coming into the tournament with a .376 average and a team-high 17 homers. Tony Plagman and Matt Skole each have 15 homers, while Jeff Rowland leads the team in stolen bases (18) and is second on the team in hitting (.357). Georgia Tech ace Deck McGuire is a perfect 10-0 with a 2.63 ERA. In 85 2/3 innings, McGuire has allowed just 25 earned runs while striking out 101. Georgia Tech closer Mark Pope (5-1) has seven saves and an ERA of 7.71 in 21 innings of work.
FLORIDA STATE REPORT
The Seminoles (40-14, 19-9 ACC) have won 18 of their last 20 games, including a four-game sweep over Grambling State to close out the regular season. After opening the season 10-8, the Seminoles have gone 30-6 since March 22. Tyler Holt leads FSU in most offensive categories, including average (.402), runs (74), hits (80), walks (49), on-base percentage (.527) and stolen bases (31). Mike McGee (.363) and Stuart Tapley (.301) are FSU’s top power hitters, coming into the week with 16 and 13 homers respectively. Steven Cardullo might be the most well-rounded threat in the FSU lineup, finishing the year hitting .370 with 10 homers and 18 stolen bases. Sean Gilmartin is the top pitcher for the Seminoles, having gone 10-2 with a 3.71 ERA this season. Gilmartin leads the team in innings pitched (77.2) and strikeouts (72). Closer Jimmy Marshall (3-2, 4.76 ERA) is second in the ACC in saves (9), trailing only UM’s Kyle Bellamy (15). Brian Busch (5-2, 4.38 ERA) is slated to start against UM on Thursday.
BOSTON COLLEGE REPORT
The Eagles (31-23, 13-15 ACC) come into the ACC tournament having closed out the regular season with a 4-6 record in their final 10 games. In the final weekend of the regular season, BC dropped 2-of-3 to North Carolina in Chestnut Hill. Robbie Anston (.366) and Tony Sanchez (.353) are the top offensive threats for the BC. Anston leads the club in hits (79), doubles (20), on-base percentage (.460) and stolen bases (14) while Sanchez has team-highs in homers (14), runs (59), slugging percentage (.647) and total bases (130). On the mound for BC, Pat Dean (5-4, 3.54 ERA) leads the club with 80 strikeouts while closer Mike Belfiore (5-1, 2.21) has eight saves and 45 strikeouts in 36 2/3 innings. Kevin Moran (5-2, 3.15) is the team’s top middle reliever.
MIAMI vs. ACC OPPONENTS
Miami is 45-24 all-time against Georgia Tech, 120-133-4 all-time against Florida State and 7-1 all-time against Boston College. The `Canes took 2-of-3 from both FSU and BC this season, while Georgia Tech took 2-of-3 from UM.
AFTER THE ACC CHAMPIONSHIP
Following this week’s ACC Championship, the Hurricanes will decide their postseason fate on Monday when the field of 64 for the 2009 NCAA Tournament is announced.
BELLAMY HEADLINES FOUR HURRICANES ON ALL-ACC TEAMS
University of Miami junior closer Kyle Bellamy was named to the 2009 All-Atlantic Coast Conference First Team, as announced by Commissioner John Swofford on Monday. In addition to Bellamy’s first-team honor, three other Hurricanes – second baseman Scott Lawson, catcher Yasmani Grandal and starter Chris Hernandez – were named to the league’s second team. North Carolina junior first baseman Dustin Ackley, who keyed the Tar Heels to an ACC Coastal Division title and a top-five national ranking, was named the 2009 ACC Baseball Player of the Year. Georgia Tech’s Deck McGuire is the ACC Pitcher of the Year, while Virginia pitcher/first baseman Danny Hultzen is the league’s Freshman of the Year. Florida State’s Mike Martin was named Coach of the Year. The honors were selected via a vote of the league’s head coaches.
HERRMANN HONORED AFTER BIG WEEKEND
University of Miami junior outfielder Chris Herrmann has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Player of the Week and Pro-Line Athletic National Hitter of the Week for his performance against Wake Forest in the team’s final series of the regular season. Herrmann led the Hurricanes offensively in their sweep at Wake, going 10-for-13 (.769) with team-highs in RBI (8), runs (8), walks (4), total bases (17), on-base percentage (.824) and slugging percentage (1.308).In Thursday’s series-opening win, Herrmann became the first Hurricane to score five runs in a game since Jim Burt accomplished the feat on June 6, 2004 against FAU. The Tomball, Texas native then recorded his second two-homer game in a span of 15 days in Miami’s win in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader. Herrmann finished with at least three hits in all three games over the weekend, recording three in each of the first two games before going a perfect 4-for-4 in the series finale. He reached base in 14 of his 18 plate appearances against the Demon Deacons, adding four walks to his 10 hits.
BELLAMY NAMED SEMIFINALIST FOR NATIONAL PITCHER AWARD
University of Miami junior closer Kyle Bellamy has been named a semifinalist for the College Baseball Foundation’s National Pitcher of the Year Award. Bellamy – one of 15 pitchers named to the prestigious list – leads the Atlantic Coast Conference and is among the national leaders with 15 saves this season. A Rivals.com and NCBWA second-team All-American in 2008 as a set-up man, Bellamy has emerged as one of the nation’s top closers this year and enters this week’s ACC Championship with a 3-1 record and a 1.09 ERA. In 41 1/3 innings of work, Bellamy has allowed just five earned runs while striking out 58.
GRANDAL’S EMERGENCE
After hitting .234 with seven homers and 28 RBI in 38 games in 2008, sophomore catcher Yasmani Grandal has taken on an increased role at the plate this season. In 52 games this season, Grandal has improved his hitting 71 points to .305 and has already more than doubled his home run total from last season (7 to 15). In addition, Grandal is slugging .621 this year, up from .452 a season ago.
