Miami Baseball Hosts Illinois State in Midweek Series

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami baseball team looks to snap a four-game losing skid Tuesday, hosting Illinois State in a pair of nonconference midweek contests at Alex Rodriguez Park in Coral Gables, Fla. Both games will begin at 6 p.m., with radio broadcasts provided by WVUM 90.5 FM.

After dropping three games in a series to top-ranked Florida over the weekend, Miami (4-7) has now lost four consecutive regular season games for the first time since 2005. During that span, the `Canes have been without the services of 18th-year head coach Jim Morris, who has been at home recovery from surgery to remove his gall bladder – and an infection stemming from the surgery, since Feb. 24.

Assistant coach and pitching coach J.D. Arteaga has been in charge of the dugout in Morris’ absence.

The Hurricanes got quality starting pitcher over the weekend against the Gators, including a career-long outing from sophomore E.J. Encinosa. He went seven innings on the bump, allowing just one run – which turned out to be the game-winning score – on five hits and striking out three batters in the second game of the series.

Illinois State (7-3) comes into Tuesday’s game winners of their last three games against Xavier (Ohio), Minnesota State and Bowling Green over the weekend.

The Redbirds are led at the plate by three players batting above the .350 plateau, including leading hitter Ryan Court with a .389 average. Court leads all players with 14 hits and five doubles, in addition to a team-high tying 11 runs. Ty Wiesemeyer carries a .360 average into the series with nine hits and two steals. The other Redbirds player above .300 batting is Matt Mirabal with a .342 clip, and a team-high tying 11 RBI.

ISU head coach Mark Kingston is in his second year with the program, turning in a winning mark of 32-24 in 2010.

The Hurricanes are led in batting by right fielder Rony Rodriguez with a .286 average, also holding one of the team’s three home runs on the campaign with a team-high tying five runs driven it. Freshman first baseman Brad Fieger leads the team in hits (12); left fielder Zeke DeVoss bats .262 with a team-high tying five RBI; and junior outfielder Nathan Melendres is the team’s leader in stolen bases with four swipes in four attempts.

UM leads the all-time series against ISU with a 3-0 advantage. The last time the two teams met, the `Canes took a 17-3 decision at Mark Light Field on March 12, 1997.

The pitching matchup this week features a pair of right-handers for Illinois State, taking on a duo of lefties for Miami. The Hurricanes will throw freshman AJ Salcines on Tuesday, while sophomore Steven Ewing will toe the rubber on Wednesday.

Salcines, a Florida Christian School alum, is making his first start with this set to be his third appearance of the young season. Salcines carries a 4.15 ERA through 4 1/3 innings worked. Ewing will be making his third consecutive weekday start Wednesday, looking for his first win of the year after suffering a loss in his first start of the year at FAU. Ewing owns a 5.06 ERA with eight strikeouts.

Illinois State will use right-handers JD Learnard (Tuesday) and Dan Savas (Wednesday) in the series. Learnard holds a 6.48 ERA in three outings and 8 1/3 innings tossed. He is 0-1 on the year in a single start. Savas totes an ERA of 4.82 with a 1-0 record in three appearances (two starts). He owns seven strikeouts in 9 1/3 frames.

For the first time since 1999, the University of Miami baseball team is not ranked in the Top 30 in any of the four major polls – Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball News, NCBWA and the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll. The Hurricanes were No. 24 in last week’s Collegiate Baseball News poll, before falling four times last week in games against USF and No. 1 Florida.

Tuesday’s contest features a special marketing promotion from the UMiami Athletic Marketing Department. The game will serve as the First Annual Bark in the Park Night, allowing fans to bring their dog(s) to the game and enjoy the nighttime action at Alex Rodriguez Park.

Live stats for the game will be provided through Game Tracker at HurricaneSports.com. Fans can also join the live chat, provided by Cover It Live, by visiting HurricaneSports.com as well.

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.

ILLINOIS STATE SCHEDULE
GAME 1: TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 6 p.m.
PROBABLE STARTERS
MIAMI – LHP AJ Salcines vs. ISU – RHP JD Learnard
RADIO: 90.5 WVUM | Video Stream: Canes All-Access

GAME 2: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 6 p.m.
PROBABLE STARTERS
MIAMI – LHP Steven Ewing vs. ISU – RHP Dan Savas

RADIO: 90.5 WVUM | Video Stream: Canes All-Access