No. 16 Miami Baseball Upends Top-Ranked Virginia

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The 16th-ranked Miami Hurricanes tacked five runs on the board in the opening inning and never looked back as they ran away from the top-ranked Virginia Cavaliers, 6-2, in the ACC series-opener between the two schools Friday evening at Davenport Field in Charlottesville, Va.

Facing the nation’s top-ranked team and a conference’s top pitching statistical leader for the second time this season – also doing so against Hudson Randall and the No. 1 Florida Gators in early March, the Miami Hurricanes (32-16, 17-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) seemed unafraid of the sell-out atmosphere or the circumstances surrounding the pivotal series on the road.

So, what was different this time around? UMiami veteran head coach Jim Morris was in the Hurricanes dugout, instead of listening to the game on the radio and watching on television in a hospital bed recovering from surgery.

Zeke DeVoss started the game with a leadoff double and later scored on a stolen base by Rony Rodriguez as the throw from Virginia catcher John Hicks was over the head of second baseman Keith Werman, allowing Rodriguez to take the base and DeVoss to scamper in from third for the 1-0 lead.

Rodriguez would come in to score in the next at-bat with junior Harold Martinez lacing a single to right field. UMiami then quickly enough staked a 3-0 lead when freshman Dale Carey hit a sharp ground ball to short that forced Cavaliers infielder Chris Taylor into an error, and allowing Martinez to score on the play.

Two more runs were added on by Stephen Perez with a sharply hit double down the right field line to the corner, allowing both Brad Fieger and Carey to score – and Miami led 5-0.

For Virginia pitcher Danny Hultzen, it was the first time all season he had allowed more than a single run in the opening inning all season long.

From there, Hultzen – entering the day as the Atlantic Coast Conference pitching leader in several statistics – settled down and scattered just three hits through the next five innings.

Virginia (43-6, 20-5 ACC) finally broke into the hits column against UMiami starter Bryan Radziewski – and on the board – in the home half of the fourth, using three-straight hits (two to left field) to chip into the lead, 5-1. Leadoff hitter Chris Taylor doubled, and John Hicks drove him in from third two batters later with a double to the left field wall.

The Cavs made it 5-2 when left fielder John Barr came in on a fielder’s choice, as the throw from Miami’s Brad Fieger at third was into the glove of freshman catcher Shane Rowland – but the ball popped out on the tag attempt.

Miami struck for the final knockout blow in the eighth, as junior Rony Rodriguez took a Justin Thompson 2-2 pitch deep to left field for his team-leading ninth home run of the year. That stretched the lead to the final margin of 6-2 in favor of the Hurricanes.

After Radziewski was relieved on the mound in the eighth by junior Travis Miller – tossing 1 2/3 innings and allowing just two hits with a strikeout, fellow junior Sam Robinson earned his sixth save of the season by collecting the final out. Robinson entered with two men on in the bottom of the ninth, before getting pinch hitter Tyler Biddix to ground out to second and end the game.

In the battle of left-handers on the mound, Miami’s Bryan Radziewski picked up his eighth win of the year – moving to 8-2 on the season – on the strength of seven innings worked, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits and striking out seven batters.

The loss went to UVa ace, left-hander Danny Hultzen, who lowered his record to 9-2 with five hits allowed (three earned) – all in the opening frame – on six hits and nine strikeouts.

Miami used the bat of Rodriguez to spark the win, as he went 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored and a RBI on the solo shot to left. Stephen Perez was 1-for-3 with two runs batted in, while Zeke DeVoss went 1-for-4 with the leadoff double to start the game and a run scored.

The Cavaliers were led offensively by the play of leadoff hitter and shortstop Chris Taylor with a hit in four trips and a run scored. John Barr added a hit and a run, as it was the Cavs’ first five batters in the order that posted five of the team’s six hits on the night.

The two teams will meet again Saturday at Noon in the “ACC Game of the Week” televised on Fox Sports. Eric Whaley (7-3, 2.99 ERA) will take the mound for the Hurricanes, while Virginia counters with Tyler Wilson (5-0, 2.85 ERA). Both starters are right-handers.

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.

Fans can keep up-to-date with all UM Athletics via twitter at Twitter.com/HurricaneSports.  You can also become a fan of the Hurricanes on Facebook at Facebook.com/MiamiHurricanes.

University of Miami Baseball Postgame Notes:

With the win, the #16 Hurricanes are now…

• 32-16 on the season
• 17-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference
• 10-7 in games played on the road
• 21-3 when scoring first
• 14-1 when scoring in the first inning
• 19-12 all-time against Virginia

Tonight’s Starters
Miami used Rony Rodriguez in left field tonight, while sophomore Cade Kreuter made the start at the designated hitter position. Originally, to begin the game, UMiami head coach Jim Morris had Kreuter penciled in at left and Rodriguez as DH.

B-RADical on the mound
Making his 13th start of the year – and his second against a top-ranked opponent, freshman left-hand pitcher Bryan Radziewski earned his eighth win of the year, and the first against a top five team. Radziewski pitched seven innings against the Cavaliers, allowing just two runs (one earned) on four hits scattered, one walk and striking out seven UVa batters.

For Radziewski, the performance was his seventh quality start of the year, while the Hurricanes moved to 10-3 on the season when he toes the rubber.

Getting to Hultzen the Key
The key of the game plan by Jim Morris and his staff heading into the game against the league’s best pitcher, Danny Hultzen, was to go right after him early and put runs on the board. That’s exactly what the Canes did, tacking on five runs in the opening frame – the third time on the year they’ve scored five runs in the opening frame. The other two times were against Boston Colleg3 (April 3) in the second game of a doubleheader, and last weekend against Hofstra (May 7).

For Hultzen, the five-run inning was the first time all season the left-handed future first round MLB Draft pick has allowed more than a single run in the first frame all season – and just the third time he’s allowed more than a run in any inning on the campaign.

I Got Five On It
The five-run first inning marked the eighth time this year Miami has scored five or more runs in an inning. It was also the third time in the last four games, as well as the fourth time against an ACC opponent.

Rodriguez Doing Yard Work
Junior Rony Rodriguez blasted his ninth homer of the year in the eighth inning Friday night, taking a 2-2 Justin Thompson – on the rubber in relief of Hultzen – pitch to deep left field that left no doubt from the moment it left the bat.

Martinez Starts to Streak Again
Harold Martinez had a single in the first inning, allowing him to increase his hit streak to four games. Martinez has now hit safely in 16 of the last 17 games.

Davenport Feels Like Home
With Friday’s win, the Miami Hurricanes picked up their third consecutive win at Davenport Field. UMiami is 8-5 all-time in Charlottesville.

Closing the Door
The Canes bullpen had another quality evening in relief of Radziewski on Friday, using the combination of juniors Travis Miller and Sam Robinson to close out the contest. Miller tossed 1 2/3 innings – allowing just two hits and striking out one – and Robinson picked up his sixth save of the year with 0.1 innings thrown, collecting the final ground out of the game to second with runners on first and second.

Perez Is a RBI Machine
Stephen Perez drove in two runs with a double to the right field wall down the line in the first inning, giving the sophomore shortstop a multi-RBI game for the seventh time this year – second-most on the 2011 roster. Since last weekend in the Hofstra series, Perez has driven in nine runs in his last 14 at-bats.

Facing the Best of the Best
For the second time this year, UMiami faced a league’s top pitcher…on the league’s top team…also the top team in the country. Virginia’s Danny Hultzen held the Atlantic Coast Conference’s lowest ERA, while the top-ranked Virginia Cavaliers not only lead the ACC standings, but sit in first place in three of the four major college polls.

The Canes also faced the Southeastern Conference’s (SEC) top pitcher in the form of Hudson Randall on the top-ranked Florida Gators in the second game of a three-game set in Gainesville back on March 5.

Miami Against the Ranked
Virginia served as the fifth ranked team the Canes have faced in a three-game series this year. With the win, it was the first over a top-ranked team this year, moving UM’s record to 4-9 on the year against ranked teams.