No. 11 Miami Opens Two Week Homestand Tuesday with St. Thomas
April 26, 2010
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The 11th-ranked University of Miami baseball team will open a seven-game homestand with a pair of mid-week contests against St. Thomas on Tuesday and USF on Wednesday at Alex Rodriguez Park.
The Hurricanes (29-11), who have won nine straight home games, will host St. Thomas at 6 p.m. Tuesday and USF at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Wednesday’s game against the Bulls will be televised live on CSS at 7 p.m.
Miami is coming off one of another classic Miami-FSU series this past weekend as the Seminoles took two-of-three from the `Canes in Tallahassee. After dropping the series opener on Friday to UM, FSU responded with a pair of come-from-behind wins on Saturday and Sunday. The Hurricanes out-hit FSU 30-to-21 and held the sixth-ranked `Noles to a .214 batting average on the weekend but fell just short in the series.
Yasmani Grandal reached on 10-of-14 plate appearances in the FSU series, going 4-for-8 with a homer, two doubles, six walks (two intentional) and four runs scored. He currently leads the Atlantic Conference in hitting (.432), on-base percentage (.548) and slugging percentage (.764). Over UM’s last 20 games, Grandal is hitting an impressive .513 (39-for-76), with nine homers, 32 RBI and 20 runs scored.
Nathan Melendres and Chris Pelaez are also coming off big weekends at the plate. Melendres finished the FSU series 5-for-11 with four RBI and two runs scored while Pelaez went 6-for-14 with three RBI and three runs scored.
UM’s pitching staff – led by relievers E.J. Encinosa (1-0, 1.85 ERA) and Daniel Miranda (3-2, 2.57 ERA) – ranks second in the ACC with a 3.66 ERA this year. Freshman Eric Whaley (3-1, 5.26 ERA) is expected to make his first career start on Tuesday against St. Thomas. Wednesday’s starter has yet to be determined.
MID-WEEK SCHEDULE
GAME 41: TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 6 p.m.
PROBABLE STARTERS
ST. THOMAS – LHP Michael Arostegui (4-2, 4.96 ERA) vs. MIAMI – RHP Eric Whaley (3-1, 5.26 ERA)
RADIO: 90.5 WVUM
GAME 42: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 7 p.m.
PROBABLE STARTERS
USF – TBA vs. MIAMI – TBA
TV: CSS
RADIO: 560 WQAM, 90.5 WVUM
ST. THOMAS REPORT
The Bobcats are 27-26 overall and have won four of their last five, including taking two-of-three from Edward Waters over the weekend in Jacksonville. Lance Larimer and Ozzie Sanchez are the top two hitters for St. Thomas. Larimer leads the club with a .377 average, while Sanchez is hitting .365 with a team-high 40 RBI. Robert Rodriguez (.344) leads the club with 14 stolen bases while Victor Madrazo (.312) has scored a team-best 46 runs. Relievers Ali Salazar (5-2, 2.25 ERA) and Kelvin Colon (3-0, 3.26 ERA) have combined to appear in 42 games thus far.
MIAMI-ST. THOMAS ALL-TIME SERIES
Miami is 19-2 all-time against St. Thomas and carries a 19-game winning streak into Tuesday’s game. STU won the first two games in the series in 1985 and 1986, but UM has won every meeting since – including an 8-0 win last year on March 17 in Coral Gables.
USF REPORT
The Bulls, who play FGCU in Tampa on Tuesday, are entering the week with an overall record of 19-21. This past weekend, USF took two-of-three from Villanova in Tampa, winning the first two games before falling on Sunday, 9-7. Stephen Hunt (.318) leads USF in most offensive categories, including homers (6), RBI (32), total bases (82) and stolen bases (11). Kevin Quackenbush (1-2, 3.38) and Joe Cole (0-3, 4.03) are the top two arms out of the USF bullpen, with the pair having combined for 31 appearances thus far.
MIAMI-USF ALL-TIME SERIES
Miami owns an all-time mark of 81-29 against USF and has won five straight meetings coming into Wednesday night’s game. The two teams met earlier this season at the “Florida Four” event at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa on March 2, with UM picking up a 15-2 win over the Bulls. The last time the two teams met in Coral Gables, Miami swept USF in a three game series Feb. 11-13, 2005.
AFTER USF
Following Wednesday’s game against USF, the Hurricanes will remain at home and play host to Maryland in a three-game ACC series at Alex Rodriguez Park. Game times for the series against the Terrapins are slated for 7 p.m. Friday, 7 p.m. Saturday and 12 p.m. Sunday.
TICKET INFO
For tickets for any of Miami’s remaining regular home games, call 1-800-GO-CANES or visit www.hurricanesports.com.
