No. 9 Miami Drops Finale at No. 25 Virginia Tech, 4-2
April 11, 2010
BLACKSBURG, Va. – After opening the 2010 season with four straight series wins in Atlantic Coast Conferene play, the ninth-ranked University of Miami baseball team lost Sunday’s rubber game at No. 25 Virginia Tech, 4-2, at English Field.
Miami (23-9, 11-4 ACC) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning, but Virginia Tech (23-11, 8-7) responded with a run in third, two more in the fifth and another in the eighth to claim the two-run victory.
Jason Santana (3-2) turned in his fifth straight quality start for the `Canes but suffered the loss, allowing three runs on six hits while walking one and striking out four in six innings.
Virginia Tech starter Jesse Hahn (5-2) allowed two early runs but settled in, striking out nine, walking two and allowing five hits in seven innings of work to earn the win. Ben Rowen came on in the eighth to toss the final two shut-out innings to earn his fourth save of the season.
Harold Martinez was the lone `Cane with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with his team-leading ninth homer of the season. Tim Smalling went 3-for-4 with two RBI to lead the Hokies offensively.
The Hurricanes scored their only two runs in the top of the second, plating runs on Martinez’s solo homer to left to lead off the inning before a bases loaded fielder’s choice grounder by Frankie Ratcliff scored Nathan Melendres.
Smalling cut UM’s lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the third with a solo homer to left before the Hokies took the lead two innings later with two more runs. A UM throwing error brought the game to a tie in the fifth before a double to left-center by Smalling proved to be the game-winner, putting Virginia Tech up 3-2.
The Hokies added an insurance run in the eighth when pinch-hitter Chris Kay homered to left-center.
Miami will remain on the road for a mid-week game at Florida Gulf Coast in Ft. Myers on Wednesday, April 14 at 6:30 p.m. before returning home to host North Carolina in a three-game ACC series at Alex Rodriguez Park beginning Friday, April 16.
Series Notes
– Yasmani Grandal led UM at the plate against the Hokies, going 7-for-12 with two homers, four RBI and four runs scored in the series. Grandal hit safely in all three games – including a 4-for-4 performance on Friday. In Saturday’s game, Grandal hit a pair of two-run homers in back-to-back at-bats in Miami’s 9-2 win over the Hokies.
– Eric Erickson turned in arguably his best outing of the season, allowing just one earned run on four hits while striking out five in seven innings to earn the win for the `Canes on Saturday.
– Chris Pelaez hit a pair of homers on the weekend, going deep on Friday and Saturday.
– Harold Martinez hit his team-leading ninth homer of the year on Sunday in a 2-for-4 performance. Martinez went 5-for-11 in the series.
– Nathan Melendres and Zeke DeVoss each went 4-for-11 at the plate on the weekend, while Melendres was successful on both of his stolen base attempts.
– The series loss for Miami was its first in ACC play after winning its first four to open the year. The `Canes are now 11-4 in league play – including a mark of 6-3 on the road against ACC opponents.
