Canes Dominate Albany 15-4 in Opener
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The No. 12 University of Miami Hurricanes baseball team took down the Albany Great Danes 15-4 in the opening game of this weekend’s three-game set at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.
Another dominant performance from Eric Erickson was the deciding factor in the Hurricanes’ fifth straight win to begin the season. The Canes’ lefty starter pitched seven innings, struck out nine and gave up only four hits. Erickson’s nine punchouts were the most since a February 2008 start against Florida during his sophomore year.
The Canes scored three runs in an active first frame for the offense; the inning featured a single by shortstop Michael Broad, a double by designated hitter Tyler Palmer, a triple by leftfielder Rony Rodriguez, while captain Peter O’Brien rounded out the team cycle with a two-run homerun.
The Miami bats would keep quiet until the bottom of the fourth, when freshman third baseman Esteban Tresgallo hit his first career homerun over the fence in left center. Poor fielding helped lead to 15 runs scored after the 6th inning, as the two teams recorded five errors in total.
The Canes broke the game open in the sixth, when Albany reliever Ryan White walked three batters and had a fielding error in his four batters faced. The poor defensive play from the Danes led to a stout 7-0 Canes lead.
Albany, facing an 11-0 deficit, would not score until the eighth inning, when reliever Adam Sargent allowed a double down the line to Craig Lepre and an RBI single from Gordon Madej. The shortstop would cross the plate for the second Danes run on an error by first baseman Brad Fieger.
The Canes would respond, however, tacking on four more runs in the bottom of the frame to bulk their lead up to a score of 15-2. Tresgallo’s RBI double and a triple from second baseman Stephen Perez, along with the first career RBI for Garrett Kennedy, built the Canes lead to an insurmountable 13 runs.
Despite two more runs from Albany in the bottom of the ninth off reliever Vince Kossak, Miami held firm for an impressive 15-4 victory. The Canes return to the diamond on Saturday night for Game Two of the series, as RHP Eric Whaley (0-0, 1.50 ERA) takes the mound for the Canes against LHP Sean Lucas (0-0, 0.00 ERA).
GAME NOTES:
On His Game
Starter Eric Erickson managed his second straight quality start against the Great Danes. The sixth-year lefty went seven strong innings, throwing nine strikeouts and allowing only four basehits. He is sporting a 0.00 ERA and a 16:00 K:BB ratio through his first sixteen innings.
“O Captain, My Captain”
Senior Peter O’Brien continued his hot streak at the plate in Game One of the series, finishing 1-for-2 with his third homerun of the season and two runs batted in. O’Brien has reached base in 10 of his last 12 at-bats, and has hit three homeruns over that time span.
A Game of Firsts
Freshman third baseman Esteban Tresgallo hit his first career homerun in the fourth inning on Friday night. Garrett Kennedy recorded his first career hit and RBI as a Cane, while Scott Wiebel connected on his first career baseknock in orange and green as well.
