Canes Set for Midweek Tilt with UCF
April 3, 2012
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No. 13 Miami vs. No. 14 Central Florida |
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Miami 21-7 (8-4 ACC) |
Central Florida (23-6, 5-1 C-USA) |
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The No. 13 University of Miami baseball team will return to the diamond on Wednesday for a midweek battle with visiting No. 14 Central Florida at Alex Rodriguez Park (6 p.m.). The Hurricanes won the early season match-up between the two teams on March 12, taking down the Knights at Jay Bergman Field in Orlando, Fla. by a final score of 3-2.
Make Them Count
Second baseman Stephen Perez has had a key impact for the Hurricanes this season since returning from an arm injury that limited his playing time earlier in the year. The junior infielder, who is hitting at a .277 clip in 2012, has an impressive .530 slugging percentage through his 25 starts. That figure is good for third-best on the team.
11 of Perez’ 23 hits have gone for extra-bases (48%), including a team-best four triples and second-best three homeruns. His 19 RBI’s are second-most on the team despite missing games earlier in the season to rehab. His recent eight-game hitting streak (3/17-3/30) is the second longest of any player this season.
Conference Is The Key
Freshman Jarred Mederos, junior Chantz Mack, sophomore Dale Carey and junior Stephen Perez are the only four players on the Hurricanes hitting at a .300 clip or better in 12 conference games this season. Mederos leads the wa y with a .375 average (in 10 starts), while Mack (.357), Carey (.326) and Perez (.316) follow behind him. Perez leads all four with a .447 on-base percentage and .605 slugging percentage in those contests.
Scouting the Competition; Central Florida
The Knights have won an impressive 10 of 11 games since the last time the two teams met in March, including a 4-0 week leading into Wednesday’s game. UCF shortstop Darnell Sweeney earned Conference-USA Hitter of the Week honors for his performance during the week, which included a .556 average (10-for-18), five runs scored and three RBI.
Pitching for the Knights (23-6, 5-1 C-USA) will be freshman lefthander Eric Skoglund (3-1, 2.13 ERA). The Florida native, who stands an impressive 6-foot-7 and weighs 175 pounds, was a teammate of current Hurricane freshman Sean Hurley at Sarasota High School.
UCF is ranked first in Conference-USA in team ERA (2.97) and second in the conference with a .295 batting average. Their team average, slugging percentage (.422), on-base percentage (.402), run total (202) and hit total (287) all rank in the top-three of the conference.
PROBABLE STARTERS:
MIAMI: RHPJavi Salas (3-0, 3.77 ERA) vs.CENTRAL FLORIDA: LHP Eric Skoglund (3-1, 2.13)
