No. 20 Baseball Looking to Continue Momentum
SERIES INFORMATION – GAME 35-37
#20 MIAMI HURRICANES (22-12, 11-4 ACC) vs. Pittsburgh Panthers (16-16, 8-7 ACC)
Coral Gables, Fla. • Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field (4,999)
Fri., April 11 (7 p.m. ET) • Sat., April 12 (7 p.m.) • Sun., April 13 (12 p.m.)
Flagship Radio: 560 WQAM (Friday, Sunday) – Joe Zagacki (PBP), Mike Levine (color)
Student Radio: WVUM 90.5 FM | WVUM.org (all three)
Video: Canes All-Access (HurricaneSports.com) (all three) ($)
SERIES HISTORY
Miami leads the all-time series between the two schools by a perfect 6-0 margin. Miami has not played the Panthers – an ACC newcomer – since the 2009 season, when the Hurricanes came up with an 11-6 victory.
PROJECTED STARTERS
Game One: MIAMI LHP Chris Diaz (5-0, 2.45 ERA) vs. PITT RHP Rhys Aldenhoven (2-2, 3.52 ERA)
Game Two: MIAMI LHP Andrew Suarez (4-1, 3.09 ERA) vs. PITT RHP Joseph Harvey (2-1, 2.41 ERA)
Game Three: MIAMI LHP Bryan Radziewski (2-2, 4.02 ERA) vs. PITT RHP Matt Wotherspoon (3-4, 5.96 ERA)
WEEKEND NEWS AND NOTES
UNFAMILIAR FOE…
• After capturing its midweek game at UCF to extend its winning streak to nine straight games, #20 Miami returns home for a weekend series against ACC newcomer Pittsburgh at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.
• Miami has not played the Panthers since the 2009 season, when the Hurricanes came up with an 11-6 victory. Miami has a perfect 6-0 record against the Panthers in the all-time series history.
• Miami enters the weekend with a firm hold on second place in the Coastal Division, just one game behind No. 3 Virginia. The Hurricanes are one of just four ACC teams with double-digit ACC wins through the first five conference weekends (11-4), and boast the second-longest winning streak in Division I baseball at nine games (Western Carolina, 11).
UPDATING THE RESUME…
• Miami has used its nine-game winning streak, including back-to-back ACC road sweeps, to vault to No. 23 in the latest Warren Nolan Top 25 RPI (April 10).
• Miami has eight wins against teams in the Warren Nolan Top 50 RPI, including a road win over No. 3 Florida State, a series victory over No. 4 Florida, a win over No. 10 Virginia, a road sweep of No. 40 NC State and a road win against No. 44 Georgia Tech.
• With a challenging ACC slate remaining, Miami’s strength of schedule is rated No. 25 by Warren Nolan.
CALLED UP CANES…
• Miami’s current nine Major League players are tied for the most of any school in the ACC (North Carolina) and the third-most of any program nationwide. The Hurricanes trail only Arizona State (11) and Long Beach State (10) in Major League players.
• Seven former Miami Hurricanes found themselves on 2014 MLB Opening Day rosters: Yonder Alonso (San Diego), Ryan Braun (Milwaukee), Yasmani Grandal (San Diego), Jon Jay (St. Louis), Chris Perez (Los Angeles Dodgers), Gaby Sanchez (Pittsburgh) and Danny Valencia (Kansas City).
• Jemile Weeks (Baltimore) and Chris Herrmann (Minnesota) opened the season on their respective team’s 40-man rosters, and were called up from AAA within the first two weeks of the season.
