No. 25 Baseball Set for Midweek Matchups
GAME INFORMATION – GAMES 21 & 22
#25 MIAMI HURRICANES (11-9, 4-2 ACC) vs. UCF (9-12, 0-0 AAC)
#25 MIAMI HURRICANES (11-9, 4-2 ACC) vs. Florida Gulf Coast (13-7, 0-0 A-Sun)
Tues., March 18, 2014 (6 p.m. ET) • Wed., March 19, 2014 (6:30 p.m. ET)
Game One: WVUM 90.5 FM • Coral Gables, FL • Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field (4,999)
Game Two: WVUM 90.5 FM • Fort Myers, FL • Hammond Stadium (7,500)
SERIES HISTORY
Miami leads the all-time series against both teams: 17-4 against UCF and 8-1 against FGCU. The Hurricanes won the lone matchup against the Knights in 2013 (5-0), but have not played the Eagles since the 2012 season – when the teams split a home-and-home.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
WVUM 90.5 FM • WVUM.org
PROJECTED STARTERS
Tuesday: MIAMI LHP Danny Garcia (0-0, 3.09 ERA) vs. UCF TBD
Wednesday: MIAMI TBD vs. FGCU TBD
NEWS AND NOTES
DOUBLING UP
• No. 25 Miami continues its challenging nonconference slate with a pair of midweek games: at home against UCF (March 18) and on the road at FGCU (March 19).
• The Hurricanes captured a 5-0 victory at Mark Light Field in the lone matchup against UCF in 2013 (March 6), which featured an 11-strikeout performance from starter Bryan Radziewski.
• Miami did not play FGCU in 2013, but split a home-and-home with the Eagles in 2012. The Hurricanes won 3-0 on the road at Hammond Stadium (Feb. 22), but dropped a home contest 4-2 (April 11).
POWER SURGE
• Miami is tied for first in the ACC with 12 home runs through its first 20 games of the regular season. Dale Carey leads the team with four homers, while Zack Collins, Garrett Kennedy and Tyler Palmer have two each.
• The offense already has three multi-homerun games this season after recording just two in all of 2013: games one and two against Florida (Feb. 21 & 22) and game one against Georgia Tech (March 14). Miami is 3-0 in 2014 when hitting more than one home run.
• In addition to its impressive home run total, Miami ranks second in the ACC with 40 doubles this season and tied for fourth in triples with four.
• Miami did not record its 12th home run in 2013 until an 8-3 win over Wake Forest on May 12 – the team’s 53rd game of that season. The Hurricanes hit just 14 home runs collectively last season.
HEATING UP
• After struggling through the first month of the season, sophomore slugger David Thompson has turned it up a notch. Thompson is hitting at a .424 clip over the past 10 games with two doubles, one triple and six RBI. He has recorded a .525 on-base percentage over that span.
• Over his last two starts, redshirt sophomore Andrew Suarez has allowed two earned runs in 16.0 innings of work (1.12 ERA). He went 9.0 innings against Georgia Tech but earned a no-decision.
• Senior Dale Carey is 7 for his last 18 (.389) over the last five games entering Tuesday’s matchup with UCF. He has team-high totals of eight hits, nine runs, four doubles and one home run over that stretch.
• Freshman Willie Abreu has settled into a groove entering the middle of March. The Hialeah, Fla., native, hitting third in the lineup, is batting .353 with 18 hits and 13 runs scored in the last 15 games.
• Freshman reliever Cooper Hammond has made seven appearances in the last 15 games and has recorded a 2.25 ERA with a 2-0 record. Hammond has yielded two earned runs in his last 8.0 innings of relief.
