No. 13 Miami Heads to Orlando to Face UCF Tuesday
March 8, 2010
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The 13th-ranked University of Miami baseball team heads back out on the road in Florida for the second straight mid-week, traveling to Orlando to take on UCF Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at Jay Bergman Field.
Despite dropping two-of-three games to No. 5 Florida over the weekend, Miami (7-3) held its Top 20 standing in all four major released Monday. The Hurricanes enter Tuesday’s game against the Knights averaging nine runs per contest – having scored at least seven runs in eight of 10 games thus far. Miami’s offense starts with junior college transfer Chris Pelaez, who leads the Atlantic Coast Conference in hitting (.581), on-base percentage (.649) and slugging percentage (.986). Pelaez leads a group of six Hurricanes that have scored double-digit runs already this season, as the outfielder has 12 in just nine games.
Freshman left-hander Steven Ewing is slated to take the mound for the `Canes against the Knights. Ewing made his collegiate debut last Tuesday against USF, starting against the Bulls and allowing just two runs in 6 1/3 innings. The Orlando native faced 25 batters and allowed just six hits and one walk while striking out six to earn his first career victory.
Miami’s bullpen has pitched well as of late, starting with senior closer David Gutierrez, who has allowed just one hit while striking out eight in six innings of work this year. Appearing in five games, Gutierrez is 1-0 and already has three saves – the second-highest total in the ACC. Sophomore left-hander Daniel Miranda is coming off a strong week, tossing 4 1/3 scoreless innings in three appearances.
Tuesday night’s game will be televised live by Bright House Sports Network, but can also be seen on CSS. It marks the first of two meetings this year between UM and UCF, as the two will meet again in Coral Gables on March 23.
GAME 11: TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 7 p.m.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Hurricanes – LHP Steven Ewing vs. Knights – LHP Brian Adkins
TV: Bright House Sports Network, CSS
RADIO: 90.5 WVUM
UCF REPORT
After opening the season 7-1 with series sweeps over Savannah State and Siena, the Knights (7-5) have lost four straight – including getting swept by Central Michigan this past weekend in Orlando. Shane Brown and Chris Duffy led the Knights’ offensive attack, as each has over 20 hits through UCF’s first 12 games. Brown has a team-high .458 average and .550 on-base percentage while Duffy leads the club in homers (5), RBI (18), total bases (47) and slugging percentage (1.022). Owen Dew (2-1, 2.81) has been UCF’s top starter in the early going while Bryan Brown (2-0, 3.38) and Joe Rogers (1-0, 0.00) are the top arms out of the Knights’ bullpen. Alex Besaw (0-1, 3.86, 1 start) is slated to start against the `Canes on Tuesday.
MIAMI-UCF ALL-TIME SERIES
The Hurricanes own a 21-4 advantage all-time against UCF. The series began in 1973, when at the time the UCF went under the name Florida Tech. The `Canes went 8-2 in the series until the school changed its name to Central Florida. Since that time, UM is 13-2 against the Knights. The two teams have mostly played in Coral Gables, with the only two meetings in Orlando coming in 1985 and 1990.
ANOTHER HOME WEEKEND COMING UP
Following Tuesday’s game in Orlando, the `Canes will return to Alex Rodriguez Park to open up Atlantic Coast Conference play against Boston College, March 12-14. Game one of the three-game series is slated for Friday at 7 p.m. Saturday’s game – to be televised by CSS – will also start at 7 p.m. while Sunday’s finale is set for 1 p.m. Last season, Miami took two-of-three from the Eagles at Boston College during the regular season.
FAMILIAR FOES
Steven Ewing and Brian Adkins – Tuesday night’s starting pitchers – are both freshman left-handers that hail from University High School in Orlando. Ewing earned all-metro honors as a senior last season after going 6-4 with a 1.2 ERA and 80 strikeouts while Adkins was named the team’s MVP.
PELAEZ CONTINUES HIS TORRID START
Junior leftfielder Chris Pelaez is off to one of the best – if not the best – offensive starts in school history. A transfer from Louisville via Miami Dade College, Pelaez currently leads the Atlantic Coast Conference in hitting (.581), on-base percentage (.649) and slugging percentage (.968), In his first nine games as a Hurricane, Pelaez is 18-for-31 with three homers, 10 RBI, 12 runs scored and a pair of stolen bases. He has hit safely in all but one game thus far, and a has recorded a team-high five multi-hit games, including two this past weekend against No. 5 Florida. Not only does Pelaez lead the `Canes in most offensive categories, he also owns the distinction of having struck out the fewest amount of times (3 Ks in 38 plate appearances) of any regular on the `Canes roster.
SWING AND A MISS
The University of Miami pitching staff has been striking out batters at an impressive rate in the early going, collecting 104 Ks in 90 innings as a staff. Seven UM pitchers have as many, if not more, strikeouts than walks, including Chris Hernandez (who has a team-high 22 strikeouts in 17 IP), E.J. Encinosa (14 Ks in 9.2 IP) and Iden Nazario (7 Ks in 3.2) IP. Eric Whaley has the team’s best strikeout-to-walk ratio (8 Ks, 1 BB) in 6 2/3 innings.
