No. 12 Miami Hits the Road for Wednesday Tilt

Miami 3-0 (0-0 ACC)
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FGCU 1-2 (0-0 Atlantic Sun)
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The No. 12 University of Miami Hurricanes will make the short trip out west on Wednesday for an in-state battle with the Eagles of Florida Gulf Coast University. Miami holds a 7-0 all-time record over FGCU.

The Canes, who opened the 2012 season against Rutgers for the third time in as many years, marked the beginning of their campaign with a sweep of the Scarlet Knights this past weekend. It was the second time in three tries the Canes have swept Rutgers to begin their season.

Miami earned a 6-2 win in the opener on the shoulders of a strong pitching performance from captain Eric Erickson. The graduate student, who was making the third Opening Day start of his career, went six full innings and allowed no runs, giving up only four hits while striking out seven.

Junior Eric Whaley followed up Erickson’s impressive start with a quality start of his own on Saturday night; the righty went six innings and allowed one earned run, fanning seven batters in the process. Outfielder Rony Rodriguez would provide the late-game heroics, bashing a three-run homerun over the fence in left-center in the bottom of the 12th inning for a walk-off 4-1 win.

Despite a tough outing for sophomore Bryan Radziewski, the Canes pulled off a 9-7 win in the series finale. Captain Peter O’Brien sparked the Canes offense with a 4-for-5 performance, including his first two homeruns as a Hurricane and three RBI.

Junior Steven Ewing will make his first start of the season on Wednesday night at Hammond Stadium. The lefty, who recorded three perfect innings in relief of Whaley on Saturday, posted a team-low 2.66 ERA in 2011. He started 12 games last season, and finished with the second most wins of any pitcher (eight).

Sophomore starter Ricky Knapp will take the mound for FGCU on Wednesday. Knapp earned his first win of the season in relief on Saturday against Bethune-Cookman (1.2 IP, 1 H, 2 SO). Outfielder Sean Dwyer led the charge in the Eagles’ opening series, finishing the three-game set with a .364 average, including a homerun and three RBI.