UM Baseball Can't Avoid Sweep in Gainesville

March 6, 2011

J.D. Arteaga Postgame Press Conference

devossufheader.jpg
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E W: T. Toledo (1-0)
#24 Miami 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 3 8 1 L: E. Whaley (2-1)
#1 Florida 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 X 5 9 0 S: A. DeSclafani (1)
Batting

2B: Z. DeVoss, S. Perez, P. Tucker, B. Johnson, D. Pigott, Z. Powers (2)
HR: P. Tucker
RBI: S. Rowland, S. Perez, D. Pigott (2), P. Tucker, Z. Powers
SB: K. Washington

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 24 Miami Hurricanes got hits and pitching on Sunday, but it wasn’t enough to come away with a win, as No. 1 ranked Florida took a weekend series sweep, courtesy a 5-3 win on Sunday in nonconference baseball action at McKethan Stadium.

Miami (4-7) had been struggling at the plate all weekend entering Sunday. In the finale of a three-game set with Florida (10-1), the Hurricanes finally overcame the hitting woes and were in prime condition to walk away with a series-ending win in Gainesville.

In the end, it was the Florida hitting – hot on the two ends of the series – that finally broke through after another good start on the mound by a UMiami pitcher, this time sophomore right-hander Eric Whaley.

Trailing 2-0 in the top of the third, following two Florida runs in the second – one off a fielding error charged to the UM outfield, Miami strung together some hits off starting pitcher Karsten Whitson. Whitson, entering the day with a sub-1.00 ERA, was the ninth overall pick in the MLB Draft last June.

Sophomore shortstop Stephen Perez began the frame for the `Canes with a double to right, and was later scored by freshman catcher Shane Rowland’s RBI single to right center.

The Hurricanes tied the game at 2-all in the fifth as sophomore left fielder Zeke DeVoss scored on a wild pitch from Whitson. DeVoss led off the inning with a double before advancing on a sac bunt by Rowland on the next play.

With Whaley enjoying his third consecutive quality start through five innings on the rubber, the Gators finally got to the sophomore hurler in the sixth.

Preston Tucker led off the bottom-half of the inning with a solo home run to left that gave the homestanding Gators a 3-2 lead. From there, Brian Johnson would double off Whaley before UM assistant coach/pitching coach J.D. Arteaga called for right-hander Adam Sargent out of the bullpen.

Daniel Pigott picked up a two-run scoring double two batters later to give the Gators a 5-2 cushion before junior lefty Sam Robinson toed the mound to close the inning for the `Canes.

Miami showed life in the ninth when Brad Fieger and Cade Kreuter walked in back-to-back plate appearances. UF head coach Kevin O’Sullivan then went to his bullpen for the fourth time on the day to get Saturday’s winner – Anthony DeSclafani – to close things out,

With two outs and the Hurricanes’ Perez representing the tying run at the plate, the Miami native delivered a RBI single to center that crossed Fieger and made it a 5-3 ballgame, while putting two men on with DeVoss at-bat as the go-ahead score. DeSclafani would get him to ground out to end the game.

The win went to Tommy Toledo out of the Gators bullpen as he evened his record at 1-1 on the campaign with 2 2/3 innings worked, allowing no hits, no runs and striking out two. The loss went to Whaley who dropped his first decision of the year, falling to 2-1 – after going 5 1/3 with four runs (three earned) on six hits and two strikeouts.

The save was recorded by DeSclafani, his first of the year.

UM was led at the plate by DeVoss, Rowland and Perez each tallying two hits, with Rowland and Perez also driving in a run apiece.

Florida used the bat of Tucker with a 3-for-4 showing and a RBI, followed by Powers with two hits, as well as Pigott with a hit and two runs driven in.

For the series, Miami’s Michael Broad batted .273 on the weekend with three hits. Rony Rodriguez and Rowland each toted .250 averages, and DeVoss managed three hits (including a double) and one of Miami’s two stolen bases.

The Hurricanes will look to snap their current four-game losing skid – the longest in the regular season since 2005 – when hosting Illinois State for two games. The first game begins Tuesday, March 8, inside Alex Rodriguez Park at 6 p.m. The finale will be Wednesday, with first pitch set for the same time.

For more information on the University of Miami baseball team, please log on to HurricaneSports.com. To follow the UM Baseball Team via twitter, please navigate to Twitter.com/CanesBaseball. You can also access the official UMiami Baseball blog at TheUBaseball.com.

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.