Miami Wins Coral Gables Regional with 10-3 Victory Over Texas A&M
June 8, 2010
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The 11th-ranked and top-seeded University of Miami baseball team won its 12th straight home regional under head coach Jim Morris with a 10-3 victory over No. 4 seed Texas A&M Tuesday afternoon at Alex Rodriguez Park.
Miami (43-18) will now advance to the NCAA Gainesville Super Regional to take on No. 3 national seed Florida in a best-of-three series beginning Friday, June 11 at 7 p.m.
The Hurricanes held a 3-2 lead over the Aggies (43-21-1) in the bottom of the second inning when play resumed after Monday night’s contest was postponed due to inclement weather. Both teams were held off the board the first two innings of play Tuesday until the `Canes broke out for a run in the fifth, three in the sixth and three more in the seventh before eventually cruising to the seven-run win.
Left-hander Chris Hernandez (10-3) made his first relief appearance of the season, tossing two scoreless innings to earn his 10th win of the year. Sam Robinson relieved Hernandez to start the fifth and went on to toss a career-long 4 2/3 scoreless. He allowed just two hits while striking out four before Daniel Miranda came on to record the final out of the regional. Eric Whaley, who started Monday night’s game and came back out on Tuesday for an out, allowed two runs on five hits in two innings.
Eight of Miami’s nine starters recorded a hit in the game, including Michael Broad – who went 2-for-3 on the day and finished the regional 9-for-14 (.643). Harold Martinez had a double and three RBI while Yasmani Grandal also doubled, drove in two and walked two. Frankie Ratcliff scored three runs and drove in two, while Zeke DeVoss also plated a pair of runs.
Texas A&M starter Ross Stripling (6-5) suffered the loss, allowing three runs on two hits and three walks in two innings of work. Reliever Shane Minks replaced him for the re-start on Tuesday and allowed one run in two innings. After Clayton Ehlert tossed a scoreless fifth, first-round MLB draft choice Barret Loux allowed three runs in an inning of work before Nick Fleece allowed another three (one earned) over the final three frames.
Kevin Gonzalez was the lone Aggie with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored.
The Hurricanes jumped out to an early 1-0 lead over the Aggies Monday night when a RBI grounder to short by Martinez scored Ratcliff — who had walked to lead off the inning — from third.
With runners on second and third and two outs in the top of the second, Ratcliff was in the mix again as his single back up the middle scored two more `Canes to give Miami a 3-0 lead after two.
Texas A&M got in the action in the bottom of the second, scoring its first run on a RBI double by Gonzalez before Caleb Shofner followed that up with a RBI single.With Shofner on first and Andrew Collazo at bat with two outs on the board, rain and lightning halted play for the night. When the inning resumed, Whaley allowed a pair of hits but relayed throw in from right from Chris Pelaez to Scott Lawson to Grandal got Shofner at the plate.
A Martinez grounder to second with the bases loaded in the fifth made it 4-2. An inning later, the `Canes broke out for three runs on back-to-back doubles to right-center by Grandal and Martinez off Loux.
Another three runs were put on the board by Miami in the seventh, putting the `Canes up 10-2. A Perez RBI single scored the first run before an error and a wild pitch scored the next two.
The Aggies added a late run on a RBI single, but Miranda shut the door to send the `Canes to Gainesville.
