Miami Heads to Tampa to Face USF at Steinbrenner Field
March 1, 2010
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – After a 5-1 start at home to open the 2010 season, the University of Miami baseball team hits the road for the first time with a trip to Tampa to take on USF Tuesday at the Florida Four tournament at George Steinbrenner Field.
Hosted by USF and the New York Yankees organization, the first annual event features Miami taking on USF at 4 p.m., followed by a game between Florida and Florida State at 8 p.m. Both contests will be televised live and carried by CSS.
The Hurricanes are coming off back-to-back series wins over Rutgers and Manhattan at Alex Rodriguez Park the last two weekends. UM’s offense is off to a hot start in the early going, averaging 10.5 runs per game (63 runs in six games) heading into Tuesday’s game in Tampa. Over the weekend against Manhattan, the `Canes plated 32 runs – including a season-high 18 against the Jaspers on Saturday.
Friday starter Eric Erickson (1-0) and Saturday starter Chris Hernandez (1-0) have both started off strong, combining to allow just five earned runs while striking out 29 in 22 2/3 innings. David Gutierrez (1-0, 2 saves) has performed well in his first two weeks as UM’s closer, allowing no runs on just one hit while striking out four in 3 1/3 innings. Reliever E.J. Encinosa has also yet to allow an earned run in 4 2/3 innings.
Chris Pelaez continues to lead the Atlantic Coast Conference in hitting, coming into the USF game with a .706 average (12-for-17), two homers, five RBI and a team-high eight runs scored. The junior college transfer has started his UM career reaching base on 17 of his first 23 plate appearances, good enough for a .773 on-base percentage. After going 8-for-11 against Rutgers two weeks ago, Pelaez went 4-for-6 with a homer and four runs scored in two games against Manhattan.
Michael Broad broke onto the scene this past weekend, hitting a team-best .444 (4-for-9) with four walks, two RBI and six runs scored against the Jaspers. Fellow freshman Stephen Perez is coming off his best game as a Hurricane, going 3-for-4 against Manhattan on Sunday.
Freshman left-hander Steven Ewing is scheduled to make his first career start Tuesday against the Bulls. Ewing, a native of Orlando, Fla., was drafted in the 37th round by the Cleveland Indians in the 2009 MLB Draft. He has yet to pitch this season.
GAME 7 INFORMATION
Tuesday, March 2, 4 p.m.
Probable Starters
MIAMI – Steven Ewing (0-0, 0.00) vs. USF – Teddy Kaufman (0-0, 6.75 ERA)
TV: CSS
Radio: 90.5 WVUM
USF REPORT
The Bulls have opened the 2010 season losing five of their first six games. After opening the season with three straight losses to Florida, USF lost two of its next three games against Big Ten opponents over the weekend, falling to Ohio State and Michigan with its lone win on the year coming against Illinois. USF is led offensively by outfielder Junior Carlin, who has opened the season 10-for-25 with three RBI and three runs scored. The Bulls have successfully stolen 8-of-10 bases thus far and are hitting .229 as a team. The pitching staff is led by Ray Delphey and Andrew Barbosa, both of whom have ERAs under four after each started a pair of games. Joe Cole and Teddy Kaufman lead the Bulls with three appearances apiece.
MIAMI-USF ALL-TIME SERIES
Miami owns a 80-29 advantage all-time against USF and has won 22-of-28 meetings in head coach Jim Morris’ 16 seasons at the helm of the UM program. The last time the two teams met, Miami swept USF in Coral Gables in 2005. The last time the Hurricanes and Bulls faced each other in Tampa was in 2004, when the teams split a two-game series.
‘CANES TO TAKE ON THE MARLINS
Following Tuesday afternoon’s game in Tampa, the `Canes will head across the state to take on Major League Baseball’s Florida Marlins in an exhibition game on Wednesday, March 3 at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter. The game – slated to start at 3:05 p.m. – will be the 10th exhibition meeting between the two teams, with the Marlins owning a 7-1-1 edge. Former Hurricane Gaby Sanchez is slated to start at first base for the Marlins while Ricky Nolasco is likely to take the mound against UM.
RIVALRY WEEKEND COMING UP
The University of Miami’s annual series with in-state rival Florida has moved back to Coral Gables this year. The `Canes and Gators will square off this upcoming weekend at Alex Rodriguez Park. Game one of the three-game set is slated for 7 p.m. Friday night, with game two set for 7 p.m. Saturday and game three scheduled for Sunday at 3 p.m. The series finale will be broadcast live by Sun Sports.
`CANES HOLD STEADY IN RANKINGS
After picking up series wins in each of their first two weekends, the Hurricanes held steady in three of the four major national polls on Monday. UM came in at No. 11 in both the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll as well as Collegiate Baseball’s poll. The Hurricanes also stayed at No. 16 in the Baseball America poll. The NCBWA poll – which had the `Canes at No. 10 this past week, will be released Monday night.
TICKET INFO
Single game, season tickets and group packages are currently available for the 2010 University of Miami season. For more information or to order your tickets for Hurricanes baseball, visit www.hurricanesports.com or call 1-800-GO-CANES.
