Miami Baseball Enters USA Today/ESPN Poll at No. 18
Jan. 27, 2011
Coral Gables, Fla. – With the start of spring practice just one day away, the University of Miami baseball team earned its fourth preseason ranking on Thursday, entering the 2011 season at No. 18 in the USA Today/ESPN Preseason Top 25 Poll. Last season, UM ended the year ranked No. 15 in the final poll.
Just hours after being ranked No. 24 in the Baseball America Preseason Top 25 Poll, the Hurricanes cracked the top 20 in the second of the four preseason rankings released to this date. UM was ranked No. 18 in the Collegiate Baseball Lineup Preseason Top 25 just a week ago, as well as No. 18 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll.
Miami returns 18 letterwinners from last year’s NCAA Super Regional [Gainesville, Fla.] squad that finished the year 43-20 overall. Returning for the Hurricanes this season is five of the team’s eight top performers at the plate from 2010.
Senior outfielder Chris Pelaez is the leading hitter for average from a year ago, ending the season with a .314 mark, allowing him to finish second on the team overall in that category. Also returning is junior outfielder Nathan Melendres, who finished the year batting at a .301 average. Louisville Slugger Preseason All-America third baseman junior Harold Martinez led the team in homeruns with 21 a season ago. Sophomores Stephen Perez and Zeke DeVoss are also back for the `Canes, each posting a team-high tying 24 stolen bases in their rookie campaign.
Pitchers Daniel Miranda and Eric Whaley are two members of the pitching staff that will be relied upon this year, while Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American E.J. Encinosa should be counted on heavily in the rotation as well.
UCLA begins the 2011 season ranked atop the USA Today/ESPN Preseason Top 25 Poll, followed by TCU, Florida, Vanderbilt and Clemson. Other Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) teams making the top 25 are Florida State (11), Virginia (14) and Georgia Tech (19).
ACC teams open their seasons Feb. 18 and conclude regular-season play May 21. The ACC Baseball Championship will be held May 25-29 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, N.C.
UM head coach Jim Morris is set to begin his 18th season as head coach of the Hurricanes, as the `Canes open the season against Rutgers at Alex Rodriguez Park for a three-game series beginning Friday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m. In fact, the `Canes open the season with six of their first seven games at home, and 12 of the first 17 overall. The Hurricanes will play 56 games in 2011.
For ticket information for the 2011 baseball season, call 1-800-GO-CANES or visit Hurricanesports.com.
For more information on the University of Miami baseball team, please log on to HurricaneSports.com. Once there, you will find up-to-date news, stats and information regarding the Hurricanes baseball program. To follow the UM Baseball Team via twitter, please navigate to Twitter.com/CanesBaseball.
You can keep up-to-date with all UM Athletics via twitter at Twitter.com/HurricaneSports. You can also become a fan of the ‘Canes on Facebook at Facebook.com/MiamiHurricanes.
