No. 9 Miami Wraps Up Regular Season with Top-Ranked Virginia
May 19, 2010
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The ninth-ranked University of Miami baseball team will wrap up its regular season schedule when it plays host to top-ranked Virginia in a three-game series, May 20-22, at Alex Rodriguez Park. Game times for the series are set for 7 p.m. Thursday, 7 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday.
With the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship just around the corner, Miami, Virginia and Georgia Tech are battling for the top seed in the Coastal Division and the tournament. Virginia (43-9, 21-6) needs just one win this weekend to secure the top spot, while Miami (38-13, 19-8) and Georgia Tech (42-10, 19-8) both need sweeps. Georgia Tech owns a tie-breaker over Miami, while Virginia owns a tie-breaker over the Yellow Jackets.
Miami will take its 17-game home winning streak and an 11-game home winning streak against ACC opponents into the series against the Cavaliers. The Hurricanes only ACC loss at home came against Boston College in UM’s conference opener on March 12.
The `Canes are led by a pair of All-America candidates in catcher Yasmani Grandal and left-hander Chris Hernandez. Grandal, who leads the ACC in hitting (.432), slugging (.784) and on-base percentage (.555), was named a semi-finalist for the Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award on Wednesday. Hernandez, who will start Friday night against the Cavaliers, leads the Hurricanes and ranks among the ACC’s best in wins (8), ERA (3.04) and strikeouts (82).
Third baseman Harold Martinez leads the team and ranks third in the ACC with 17 home runs, while ranking second on the team in RBI (52), total bases (118) and slugging percentage (.615). Centerfielder Nathan Melendres is riding a 10-game hitting streak into the series as well.
Right-hander Jason Santana (5-3, 5.86) will make his second straight series-opening start on Thursday, while fellow senior David Gutierrez (5-0, 4.00) will start on Saturday.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
GAME 52: THURSDAY, MAY 20, 7 p.m.
PROBABLE STARTERS
VIRGINIA – RHP Branden Kline (4-0, 3.00 ERA) @ MIAMI – Jason Santana (5-3, 5.86 ERA)
RADIO: 560 WQAM, 1450 ESPN DEPORTES, 90.5 WVUM
GAME 53: FRIDAY, MAY 21, 7 p.m.
PROBABLE STARTERS
VIRGINIA – RHP Robert Morey (8-2, 3.30 ERA) @ MIAMI – Chris Hernandez (8-2, 3.04 ERA)
TV: CSS
RADIO: 560 WQAM, 1450 ESPN DEPORTES, 90.5 WVUM
GAME 54: SATURDAY, MAY 22, 12 p.m.
PROBABLE STARTERS
VIRGINIA – LHP Danny Hultzen (7-1, 1.98 ERA) @ MIAMI – David Gutierrez (5-0, 4.00 ERA)
RADIO: 560 WQAM, 90.5 WVUM
VIRGINIA REPORT
The Cavaliers have won 14 straight games coming into this week’s series. Last weekend, UVa picked up a series sweep over North Carolina in Charlottesville, winning 3-2 on Friday, 5-1 on Saturday and 5-3 on Sunday on a walk-off homer.Phil Gosselin (.386, 7 HR, 47 RBI), Jarrett Parker (.337, 8 HR, 48 RBI) and Steven Proscia (.325, 8 HR, 55 RBI) carry the Cavalier offense. Gosselin leads the team with 15 steals. Danny Hultzen (7-1, 1.98 ERA) leads the conference in ERA and is tied with Georgia Tech’s Deck McGuire for the league lead in strikeouts (99). Branden Kline (4-0, 3.00) is slated to start Thursday, with Robert Morey (5-0, 4.30) going on Friday and Hultzen on Saturday. Closer Kevin Arico (1-1, 3.33) leads the ACC with 13 saves.
MIAMI-VIRGINIA ALL-TIME SERIES
Miami own a 17-9 record all-time against Virginia and has won seven of its last eight meetings with the Cavaliers. Last year, Miami took two-of-three in Charlottesville and in 2008, won all four meetings – including a series sweep in Coral Gables.
AFTER VIRGINIA
The Hurricanes will head to Greensboro, N.C. for the 2010 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship at NewBridge Bank Park. The tournament will run from Wednesday, May 26 to Sunday, May 30.
GUTIERREZ THRIVING IN NEW ROLE
After spending the first half of the year in the closer’s role for the `Canes, senior right-hander David Gutierrez has made the transition to the starting rotation and has been one of Miami’s go-to arms since. In five starts, Gutierrez is 4-0 and has struck out 25 while allowing just nine earned runs in 28 innings of work. After allowing three runs in 5 1/3 innings at Georgia Tech last weekend, Gutierrez’s ERA has now dropped from 7.62 to 4.00 after moving into the rotation.
MELENDRES HEATING UP
Sophomore outfielder Nathan Melendres has been one of Miami’s hottest hitters in recent weeks. After hitting .260 through UM’s first 38 games, Melendres has turned it on since the FSU series, going 19-for-47 (.404) with eight RBI and 29 total bases over the `Canes last 13 games. He is currently riding a 10-game hit streak coming into the UVa series.
ERA KINGS
Miami’s pitching staff currently boasts the second-lowest ERA in the ACC (3.59) as well as the second-lowest ERA in league play (3.63). Eight UM pitchers that have logged double-digit innings this year own an ERA of 4.00 or below, including E.J. Encinosa who owns a team-best 1.58 ERA in 40 innings of work. The last time a Miami team finished the season with an ERA under four was in 2004, when the Hurricanes finished with a 3.73 ERA. The last time the staff finished with an earned run average under 3.70 was 1996, when the team ERA was 3.69.
POWER SURGE
After hitting just 24 home runs through the season’s first 23 games, Miami has hit 56 over its last 28, including five this past weekend at Georgia Tech and two on Tuesday against FGCU. Eight Hurricanes have hit five home runs or more this season, led by Harold Martinez’s 17 and Yasmani Grandal’s 13. The `Canes have 80 home runs as a team already this year, 12 more than they hit all of last year.
TICKET INFO
To order tickets to the Virginia series, visit www.hurricanesports.com or call 1-800-GO-CANES.
