Hurricanes Finishing Preparation for Coral Gables Regional
June 3, 2010
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The 11th-ranked and top-seeded University of Miami baseball team is finishing its preparation for its opening game against No. 4 seed Dartmouth in the NCAA Coral Gables Regional on Friday, June 4 at 4 p.m. at Alex Rodriguez Park.
Miami earned a No. 1 seed in the 2010 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship and is playing host to No. 2 seed Texas A&M, No. 3 seed Florida International and No. 4 seed Dartmouth in the Coral Gables Regional this weekend.
Miami (40-17) and Dartmouth (26-17) will play in the regional’s second game at 4 p.m. on Friday, following the 12 p.m. match-up between Texas A&M (40-19-1) and FIU (36-23). The entire Coral Gables Regional will be shown live on ESPNU, with games at 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. If necessary, Monday’s contest will also be shown live on ESPNU at 7 p.m.
Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year Yasmani Grandal will lead the Hurricanes on their home field this weekend. Grandal is hitting an ACC-best .422 to go along with 14 home runs, 56 RBI, 50 runs scored and 52 walks. Fellow ACC first teamer Chris Hernandez (8-3, 3.02 ERA) anchors a Miami pitching staff that ranks second in the conference in team ERA (3.68). Hernandez ranks third in the ACC in ERA and strikeouts (95).
Harold Martinez (.298, 19 HR, 60 RBI) and Chris Pelaez (.305, 9 HR, 46 RBI) join Grandal in the middle of the line-up, while left-hander Daniel Miranda (5-2, 3.43 ERA, 5 saves) and right-hander E.J. Encinosa (1-1, 1.48 ERA) anchor the Miami bullpen.
Regional Schedule
Friday, June 4
Game 1 – (3) FIU vs. (2) Texas A&M, 12 p.m.
Game 2 – (4) Dartmouth vs. (1) Miami, 4 p.m.
Saturday, June 5
Game 3 – G1 Loser vs. G2 Loser, 12 p.m.
Game 4 – G1 Winner vs. G2 Winner, 4 p.m.
Sunday, June 6
Game 5 – G3 Winner vs. G4 Loser, 12 p.m.
Game 6 – G4 Winner vs. G5 Winner, 4 p.m.
Monday, June 7
Game 7 – If necessary, 7 p.m.
Broadcast Information
ESPNU
PBP – Clay Matvick
Color – Kyle Peterson, Eric Byrnes
560 WQAM
Joe Zagacki, Mike Levine
1450 ESPN DEPORTES
Joe Martinez, Tony Menendez, Lonnie Berry
90.5 WVUM
Justin Antweil, Danny Parra, Matt Reed
Live Stats
www.ncaa.com
www.hurricanesports.com
MIAMI VS. THE FIELD
Miami is 2-1 all-time against Dartmouth, 91-24 all-time against FIU and 6-2 all-time against Texas A&M. The `Canes only meeting with Dartmouth came in 2000, when Miami took two-of-three from the Big Green in Coral Gables. The last meeting against A&M came in 1995, while the `Canes have won seven of their last eight meetings with FIU.
WHALEY STEPPING UP
Freshman right-hander Eric Whaley is expected to make his third career start Friday afternoon against Dartmouth. Whaley started Miami’s ACC tournament opener and earned his fifth win of the season, allowing two runs in five innings of work against the Seminoles. Prior to that start, Whaley turned in the best outing of his career, tossing four scoreless relief innings against top-ranked Virginia in Miami’s final regular season series. Whaley allowed just two hits while striking out a career-high seven against the Cavs. On the year, he is 5-1 with a 4.46 ERA. He ranks fourth on UM’s staff having appeared in 27 games this season.
WHAT DOES 40 MEAN?
Miami has reached the College World Series every time it has recorded at least 40 wins before the start of the NCAA Tournament under head coach Jim Morris. In his 17 years at the helm in Coral Gables, the `Canes have hit the 40-win mark 12 times before regional play and advanced to Omaha in each of those years.
POWER SURGE
After hitting just 24 home runs through the season’s first 23 games, Miami has hit 67 over its last 34. Eleven Hurricanes have hit five home runs or more this season, led by Harold Martinez’s 19 and Yasmani Grandal’s 14. The `Canes have 91 home runs as a team already this year, 23 more than they hit all of last year.
STAR WATCH
The Coral Gables Regional will feature some of the nation’s top hitters, including ACC Player of the Year Yasmani Grandal and Sun Belt Player of the Year Garrett Wittels. Grandal leads the ACC in hitting (.422), slugging percentage (.754) and on-base percentage (.545), while Wittels enters the weekend with a 54-game hitting streak. Texas A&M’s Brodie Greene is among the Big 12’s best hitters, while Dartmouth’s Chris O’Dowd is among the best in the Ivy League.
TICKET INFORMATION
Ticket packages for the entire Coral Gables Regional are $90 for field box, $60 for chairback, $45 for adult general admission and $30 for youth, seniors and students. To order tickets or to find information on single game tickets, visit www.hurricanesports.com or call 305-284-CANE or 1-800-GO-CANES. The UM ticket office is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
