March 11, 2008

Box Score

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Junior first baseman Yonder Alonso homered for the fourth time in four games in finishing 4-for-4 with two RBI and junior right-hander Jason Santana tossed six shutout innings as No. 5 Miami blanked Penn State, 10-0, Tuesday night at Mark Light Field. Sophomore catcher Jason Hagerty also hit his fourth home run of the season as the Hurricanes (10-1) pounded out a season-high 15 hits.

Santana (3-0) ran his record to 3-0 turning in his second straight solid start. He three-hit the Nittany Lions (3-7) and struck out two. Sophomore David Gutierrez - making his first appearance of the season, freshman Iden Nazario and junior Rene Guerra combined to toss the final three shutout innings as Miami blanked its second team of the season.

Alonso was a triple shy from hitting for the cycle. He opened up the game with a single in the first, homered in the second and doubled in the fourth and sixth innings. Hagerty ended up 2-for-4 with two RBI while sophomore shortstop Ryan Jackson went 2-for-3 with the go-ahead RBI in the second inning. Junior second baseman Jemile Weeks finished 1-for-3 with two RBI.

Mike Wanamaker (1-1) took the loss for the Nittany Lions, who played their second game of the day. Penn State lost to Connecticut, 14-6, in a morning game in the Papa John's Palm Beach Challenge before busing down to Coral Gables. Wannamaker allowed six runs on eight hits and struck out three. Four different Nittany Lions had one hit.

Jackson's RBI-single in the second jumpstarted a five-run inning. He drove in Dave DiNatale putting the Hurricanes ahead, 1-0. Weeks followed with a two-run single up the middle scoring Blake Tekotte and Mark Sobolewski to make it, 3-0. Alonso then unleashed his fourth homer of the season over the fence in left center giving Miami a 5-0 lead.

Hagerty's base-hit up the middle in the bottom of the third allowed Adan Severino to score after his first triple of the season which put the Canes ahead, 6-0.

Hagerty extended the UM lead to 7-0 with his solo home run down the left field line in the fifth.

Joey Terdoslavich's two-run double capped off a three-run sixth inning. Jonathan Weislow singled through the right side, which allowed Sobolewski, who tripled off the top of the fence in center field, to score for an 8-0 UM lead. Two batters later, Terdoslavich smoked the first pitch he saw down the left field line putting the Hurricanes ahead, 10-0.

 Miami continues midweek play Wednesday night when the Hurricanes host the Maine Black Bears at 7 p.m. Sophomore right-hander John Housey will start for Miami.

Game Notes

§       Yonder Alonso hit his fourth home run of the season in the second inning and sophomore catcher Jason Hagerty matched Alonso with his fourth homer of the season in the fifth. Alonso is now hitting .459 with four doubles and four homers for a team-high 14 RBI. Hagerty is hitting .417 with four homers, a double and nine RBI.

§       Miami recorded its second shutout of the season since blanking Cincinnati in the series finale, 8-0. Miami posted just one shutout in 2007.

§       Junior second baseman Jemile Weeks extended his hitting streak to nine games with a single in the bottom of the second.

§       Miami has now rattled off five consecutive wins.

§       UM's pitching staff lowered its opponent batting average to .183 and its team ERA to 2.63. UM has struck out 113 batters in 99 innings.