March 2, 2008

Box Score

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Florida shortstop Cole Figueroa broke a 2-2 tie in the eighth inning with a grand slam to left field as the No. 8 University of Miami baseball team dropped its first game of the season Sunday, 6-2, in the series finale against the Gators (6-2) at Mark Light Field. The Hurricanes (5-1) won the series two games to one.

Freshman left-hander Chris Hernandez was effective in his second consecutive Sunday start, allowing just one earned run on two hits in six innings to earn the no decision. Hernandez struck out seven in six innings. Alex Koronis (0-1) suffered the loss for Miami allowing one run on one hit in 1 1/3 innings of work. He struck out three of the five batters he faced. Junior lefty P.J. Fisher, making his first career appearance at UM, tossed just 2/3 of an inning, allowing three runs on three hits while Iden Nazario, also taking the mound for the first time as a Hurricane, tossed a scoreless ninth.

Clint Franklin (1-0) earned the win for Florida, tossing two scoreless innings in relief of starter Tommy Toledo. Making his second start of the season, Toledo allowed two runs on four hits in five innings before handing it over to the bullpen. Tony Davis, Franklin and Stephen Locke would hold the Hurricanes to just one hit and no runs over the final four innings, securing the win for the Gators.

Blake Tekotte had two of UM's five hits on the afternoon, going 2-for-3 with his first home run of the season.

Josh Adams was the lone Gator with multiple hits, finishing 2-for-4 with a RBI and a run.

With the score tied at two, Florida (6-2) loaded the bases with a pair of singles and a UM fielding error before Figueroa put the Gators ahead for good with the game-winning homer off UM's Fisher.

An error by third baseman Mark Sobolewski in the top of the second allowed Dustin Bamberg to score from second, putting the Gators on the board first, 1-0.

Tekotte tied the game in the bottom of the third. He blasted his first homer of the season down the line in right field to make it, 1-1.

The Gators retook the lead in the sixth with a Josh Adams' RBI double down the line in left but UM got it right back in the bottom half of the inning when Jemile Weeks, who had doubled to lead off the inning, scored on a Joey Terdoslavich ground out after stealing third tying it back, 2-2.

Miami squandered a couple of chances early. Tekotte walked to lead off the game, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error. UF recorded an out before Yonder Alonso walked with one out. The Gators managed to turn a double play to get out of the jam. The Hurricanes got their two leadoff men on in the top of the second, but again with one out, Florida turned a double play to get out its second jam.

The Hurricanes will remain at home this week when they play host to Lehigh Tuesday, March 4 at 7 p.m. UM opens Atlantic Coast Conference play next weekend when Boston College visits Mark Light Field, March 7-9.

Series Notes

§       All three games of the Miami-Florida series were played in front of a capacity crowd 3,000 each day.

§       Miami's pitching staff had another good weekend. Despite posting a 4.33 ERA on the weekend, UM pitchers held the Gators to a .184 batting average and struck out 35 batters in 27 innings, while walking just eight batters.

§       Junior center fielder Blake Tekotte led UM on the weekend hitting .545 (6-for-11) with six runs scored, a home run and two RBI.

§       Junior first baseman Yonder Alonso hit .400 against the Gators with three RBI and two doubles. He walked three times.

§       Junior second baseman Jemile Weeks had four hits in the series including a double and his second home run of the season. He matched Alonso with a team-best three RBI.

§       Sophomore catcher Jason Hagerty batted .429 (3-for7) in two games against the Gators. He scored four runs, added a double and a RBI.

§       Freshman lefty Chris Hernandez continued his good start for the Hurricanes. He struck out seven in six innings and allowed just one earned run on two hits.

§       Redshirt junior pitcher Carlos Gutierrez earned his third save of the season in game two of the series. He made two appearances and registered four strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings. On the season, Gutierrez has made four appearances and hasn't allowed a hit. He has six strikeouts on the season.

§       Sophomore reliever Kyle Bellamy appeared twice against the Gators and struck out three in 1 2/3 innings. On the season, Bellamy has given up just one hit in 4 2/3 innings and recorded eight strikeouts.

§       Miami out-hit Florida, 25-18, which included nine extra-base hits.

§       Sophomore lefty Eric Erickson improved to 2-0 on the season with the win in the series opener. He no-hit the Gators for five innings. He ended up tossing 62/3 innings and striking out nine. He allowed four runs on four hits.