No. 23 Hurricanes Return Home for Five-Game Homestand
March 13, 2007
No. 23 Miami returns home to begin a five-game homestand at Mark Light Field. The Hurricanes will host Maine at 7 p.m. Tuesday before hosting Rutgers at Wednesday at 7 p.m. Tuesday’s game will be broadcast locally by the Student Voice of UM, WVUM (90.5 FM), which can also be picked up online at www.wvum.org.
ABOUT THE MIAMI HURRICANES
The Hurricanes look to bounce back after dropping three close games on the road at North Carolina. Miami only went 1-4 last week with an upset loss at home to St. Bonaventure, 5-2, and the three-game series sweep by No. 1 North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Miami was last swept by Clemson in ACC play last season at home, 8-6, 6-2 and 14-1. The last time, Miami was swept on the road was at Florida State during the 2000 season (Apr. 7-9 – 14-13, 12-2, 5-4). UNC out-hit the Hurricanes, 34-21, and hit .337 in the series. Miami enters the midweek hitting .285.
Sophomore second baseman Jemile Weeks led the Hurricanes against the Tar Heels going 5-for-12 with three runs scored a home run and a double. Sophomore right fielder Dennis Raben had his second multi-home run game of the season in the UNC series finale. Raben had three hits and five RBI as he went 3-for-3 with four RBI in game three. He also homered twice in the 8-1 win over Fordham. Freshman third baseman Mark Sobolewski continues to be the hot bat in the line-up for the Hurricanes. Sobolewski had nine hits last week and hit .450. He had an 11-game hitting streak snapped Saturday. Sobolewski ranks in the top 10 in the ACC in RBI (2nd), hits (31, 9th), doubles (9, 4th) and total bases (45, 10th). Sophomore first baseman Yonder Alonso leads the team hitting .397. He ranks second in the ACC in walks (20), fifth in slugging percentage (.698) and home runs (5), seventh in on-base percentage (.539) and 16th in individual batting (.397).
Freshman shortstop Ryan Jackson also had a good last week for the Hurricanes. Jackson added five hits and had two doubles. He turned in a season-best 3-for-4 performance against La Salle. RHP Enrique Garcia will start for Miami against Maine.
ABOUT THE MAINE BLACK BEARS
Maine is in the midst of wrapping up an 11-game Florida road trip. The Black Bears opened its season in Palm Peach against Penn on Mar. 3 and enters the game with the Hurricanes with a 4-5 record. Maine is coming off a 5-4 loss to Fordhman on Sunday. Maine is hitting .311on the season and has a 5.81 team ERA. First baseman Joel Barrett has a team-high 16 hits while batting .390. Centerfielder Billy Cather was named the America East Player of the Week on Monday. Cather led Maine to three wins on the week. Cather hit .387 on the week with four doubles, six runs scored and eight RBI. He was a perfect 6-for-6 in stolen bases. It was the second time this season that a Black Bear has been named America East Player of the Week. Sophomore second baseman Danny Menendez was named the America East Player of the Week last week. The Black Bears are the reigning America East champions. They won 35 games in 2006 and played in the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional.
THE UM-MAINE SERIES
Miami leads the all-time series, 58-12. The teams last met during the 2004 season. UM won that game, 9-3.
FAMILY TIES
Miiami senior third baseman Gus Menendez is the older brother of Maine sophomore second baseman Danny Menendez. Gus starred at St. Brendan High School in Coral Gables, before playing his first two collegiate seasons at Miami-Dade Community College. Danny is in his second season with the Black Bears. He was named America East Player of the Week earlier this season.
