April 6, 2008

Box Score

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Junior right-hander Rene Guerra earned his first career win and Dave DiNatale smacked a three-run homer in the fifth that proved to be the difference as the No. 2 ranked Miami baseball team finished off the sweep of Clemson with a 7-6 win Sunday afternoon at Mark Light Field. The Hurricanes improved to 26-2 overall and 12-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play while Clemson fell to 18-13 on the season and 6-9 in league play.

Guerra, who came on in relief of starter Michael Rudman in the fourth inning, held Clemson scoreless for 1 2/3 innings, becoming the 10^th different Hurricane to record a win this season. Rudman made his first career start and allowed three runs on three hits in 3 1/3 innings and struck out four. Three more relievers, P.J. Fisher, Anthony Nalepa and Kyle Bellamy bridged the gap over the next 2 1/3 innings before closer Carlos Gutierrez earned his second two-inning save of the weekend, throwing perfect eighth and ninth innings to earn his eighth save.

DiNatale finished the game 1-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored. Second baseman Jemile Weeks was the lone Hurricane to finish with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a RBI and a run scored.

Clemson starter Ryan Hinson (2-4) suffered the defeat, allowing six runs - four earned - on four hits while walking five and striking out three in 4 1/3 innings. Reliever Justin Sarratt tossed the final 3 2/3 innings, allowing just one run on three hits. Ben Paulsen hit his team-leading 10^th homer of the season and finished 2-for-4 with four RBI and a run scored. Mike Freeman (1-for-4) and Wilson Boyd (0-for-2) each scored two runs on the afternoon.

Miami took its first lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth when DiNatale scored on a fielding error by Tiger left fielder Jeff Schaus tying the game, 3-3. Blake Tekotte then scored from second on a Weeks double to left, putting UM up 4-3.

The Hurricanes added three more runs in the fifth when DiNatale's homer scored Joey Terdoslavich and Mark Sobolewski to put UM ahead, 7-3.

Clemson drew within a run in the sixth and tacked on two more in the seventh on Paulsen's two-run home run off Bellamy to make it, 7-6, but Gutierrez retired the last six batters of the game for the save.

Clemson got on the board first when Paulsen singled through the right side, scoring Freeman from third and Stan Widmann from second to put the Tigers up 2-0.

UM got one of the runs back in the bottom half of the first when a Dennis Raben fielder's choice groundout scored Tekotte from third to make it, 2-1.

A Ryan Jackson bloop single to shallow center in the third scored Weeks from second to tie the game up, 2-2.

The Tigers didn't take long to regain the lead as Shaus doubled in Boyd from first with a shot in the gap in right-center, pushing the score to 3-2.

The Hurricanes return to action Tuesday when they face Florida Gulf Coast at 7p.m. Florida Atlantic visits Mark Light Field for the second straight week Wednesday for a 7 p.m. first pitch.

Game and Series Notes

- Redshirt junior Carlos Gutierrez earned his eighth save of the season. He needs just three more to crack the single-season top 10 list.

- Junior Dave DiNatale homered for the third time this week in the fifth inning. DiNatale had a great week for the Hurricanes, as he hit .471 (8-for-17) with eight runs scored, two doubles, a triple, three home runs and 11 RBI.

- Miami swept a three-game series from Clemson for the first time since the 1990 season and only the second time in the series since the teams met the first time in 1977.

- The Hurricanes extended their winning streak to 13 games - the longest since a 16-game win streak during the 2006 season. UM has outscored opponents, 162-57, during its winning streak while hitting .353.

- Sophomore right-hander Kyle Bellamy surrendered his first run of the season in the seventh inning on a two-run home run by Ben Paulsen. Bellamy had started the year tossing 22 scoreless innings. He now is 5-0 with 0.40 ERA while teams are hitting just .083 against him. He has 31 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings.

- Miami failed to reach double digits in hits for only the second time in the last 22 games.

- Junior center fielder Blake Tekotte extended his team-best 15-game hitting streak with a double in the fifth inning Sunday. Tekotte is hitting .481 during that time with a team-high 26 hits, 24 runs scored and six doubles. He has 16 RBI during his streak nine stolen bases.

- For the series, the Hurricanes hit .306 led by Yasmani Grandal and Ryan Jackson, who each had five hits. Grandal, Jemile Weeks, Blake Tekotte, Dave DiNatale and Dennis Raben each were responsible for four RBI in the series. UM's pitching staff held the Tigers to a .229 batting average. Carlos Gutierrez earned two saves in the series, while Kyle Bellamy picked up two wins in relief to improve to 5-0 on the season.