Gators Feel the Pain: Weislow Powers Canes to Road Win

By Kartik Krishnaiyer
Canes Rising Staff

In our preseason Baseball show last month Canes Rising contributor and copy editor Jorge Bannister wondered if Jonathan Wieslow would be the able to settle in at Center Field and contribute right away.

The Hurricane Nation got its answer on Friday night as the Senior belted the first two home runs of his career to pace an 8-5 Miami win in Gainesville. The Canes beat Patrick Keating who should be one of the SEC's top starters this year, dropping the Gator ace to 1-1 on the young season.

Chris Hernandez got the win for the Hurricanes. Game two of the series is today a 2pm ET.

Canes Drop Opener in Eleven

The Hurricanes dropped the opening match of the best of three Super Regionals at Mark Light Stadium to Arizona in eleven innings Friday night. This puts the Canes behind the 8-ball. UM must win today to force a deciding third game tomorrow with a ticket to the College World Series on the line.

2008 NCAA Regionals

The Regional sites were listed yesterday, and today the NCAA Baseball Selection Committee announced the field of 64 teams.

As reported yesterday, Miami (47-8) was granted the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. That means they get to host Regionals and – if they make it that far – Super Regionals. (I know I said it almost verbatim yesterday, but it is true.)

The last time Miami was the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament was in 1999 – the first year the NCAA went to a 64-team field – and we all remember that glorious year, right? If not, here’s a refresher: It was the first National Title under Jim Morris for the Hurricanes.

The other seven national seeds, in order, are: North Carolina (46-12), Arizona State (45-11), Florida State (48-10), Cal State Fullerton (37-19), Rice (42-13), LSU (43-16-1) and Georgia (35-21-1).

Some things to consider here: 1. Rice plays in a very awful conference, even with the presence of Tulane in it, Conference-USA. 2. How does Georgia get a top-eight seed despite going two-and-out in its conference tournament? 3. (A carry over from yesterday’s list of host sites) How in the blue hell is Michigan (45-12) hosting a Regional as a No. 2 at its own site? (Get it? Blue hell.)

The baseball committee is getting just as bad as the hockey committee. I know probably nobody follows NCAA Hockey here, but let me tell you a similar situation. This past season, when the Regionals were announced, the Midwest Regional was hosted by and held at the University of Wisconsin. The only caveat? The Badgers were two games under .500. Even if they did win a first-round game, they shouldn’t have been in that situation to begin with.

(I know, I know. Get back to baseball. Sorry, I tend to wander.)

Okay, let’s get back to the Regionals, and, more importantly, the Coral Gables Regional. No. 2 Missouri (38-19) will face off against third-seeded Ole Miss (37-24) at noon, and Miami will face No. 4 Bethune-Cookman (36-20) at 4 p.m. Both games are Friday and can be seen on ESPNU.

That’s right. Take a good, hard look at this regional – Mizzou, Ole Miss and Bethune-Cookman.

Some might mindlessly mention, “Hey, it’s just Bethune-Cookman.” Yeah, sure. That’s all fine and dandy until you mention the fact that the pitcher Miami will be facing Friday afternoon will be right-hander Hiram Burgos, which boasts a 1.20 ERA in 12 starts. You know, the best in the country and all that jazz.

Not to mention, that they will face either a very tough Mizzou team, or a very tough Ole Miss team – a similar Rebel team that the Hurricanes went to three games with in Oxford, Miss., during the 2006 Super Regionals.

The good news, if any out of this, is if Miami captures the Coral Gables Regional it will face-off against the Ann Arbor Regional champ – which could be Michigan, No. 1 Arizona (38-17), No. 4 Eastern Michigan (25-32), or No. 3 Kentucky (42-17).

I expect left-handed freshman phenom Chris Hernandez to go on Day 1 for the Hurricanes, with Eric Erickson, another left-hander, to go on Day 2 and, of course, right-hander Enrique Garcia going Day 3.

If it’s a clean sweep, Hernandez would have three days rest before coming back for Game 1 of the best-of-three Super Regional series against (insert Ann Arbor Regional champion here).

I expect Hernandez, as he’s done all year long, to deliver a solid performance and even go about 6-8 innings, with six being on the “bad” side of the equation.

The wild-card, I think, will be Erickson. Can he bounce back from his atrocious start in the ACC Tournament against Georgia Tech? Only time will tell, but Miami could sure use the 1-2-3 punch they’ve had most of the season with Hernandez-Erickson-Garcia.

The addition of David Gutierrez as a possible No. 4 starter or a long reliever is clutch for Miami. Although, as he’s shown in the ACC Tournament, he’s not terribly good at coming out of the bullpen for relief.

Should be an interesting Friday, and one where live updates will happen every three innings.

Miami Hurricanes -- 2008 ACC Baseball Champions

The last time Virginia ace left-hander Pat McAnaney faced the Miami Hurricanes, he only gave up one run. He wasn’t as fortunate this time.

The top-seeded Hurricanes came out swinging early and often. Miami sent 10 hitters to the plate in the top of the first and got four runs on five hits to jump out to an early, 4-0 lead that it would never surrender en route to an 8-4 win over the sixth-seeded Cavaliers.

The win secures the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Division 1 Baseball Tournament which starts with Regionals.

“First of all it's great to win our first ACC Championship,” Hurricanes manager Jim Morris – who was named ACC coach of the year – said. “It's an honor to represent the Atlantic Coast Conference. For our program and our players, I don't think they realized how exciting it would be to win a Championship. I told them it would be a special day today whether we win or lose, and I wanted them to experience and see how special it is. I've been in these games (when I was at Georgia Tech) and I knew it would be a great day for them and it started off with everything from the National Anthem and the jets and everything. Our guys played well and Virginia has an outstanding club and it came down right to the end. Virginia fought hard, our guys played hard. I'm very proud of our players, our coaches, our program and I'm looking forward to the NCAA Tournament.”

Center fielder Blake Tekotte led off the game with an infield single. Second baseman Jemile Weeks walked and, with first baseman Yonder Alonso at the plate, manager Jim Morris ordered a double steal. Tekotte was thrown out at third, but Weeks – which was safe at second base – stole third on the very next pitch. Alonso walked and third baseman Mark Sobolewski followed with an RBI single to right center sending Alonso to third. Ryan Jackson and Dennis Raben also hit RBI singles with runners on first and third in each situation, and Dave DiNatale hit a sacrifice fly to right field to plate another run.

Just like that, Miami right-hander David Gutierrez had a comfortable, 4-0 lead.

The lead was stretched to 7-0 after a three-run third inning in which an RBI double to left-center field with two outs by Tekotte was the hardest hit ball.

Gutierrez pitched a very good game, considering he came in relief a couple of days ago against Georgia Tech in the 15-12 slugfest that the Hurricanes won.

In fact, he cruised through five innings – the limit Morris said he was going to have because of his two innings in relief – and Morris sent him out for the sixth. Gutierrez, who was aided by two double plays, hadn’t thrown a lot of pitches through five (he threw 73 overall), but the wheels started to come off in the sixth inning.

Tyler Cannon – the No. 9 hitter – led off the sixth for Virginia with an earth scorcher to the hole at short. Jackson slid on one leg to make the play, and his throw across the diamond was a hair late and high. Shortstop Greg Miclat followed with a double to left, and David Coleman – which made an AMAZING play against Florida State crashing into the wall and falling into the crowd a couple of days ago – followed with an RBI single to left. David Adams followed that with an RBI single to left and that was it for Gutierrez.

Right-hander Anthony Nalepa followed and it looked promising after the first pitch – inducing a 6-4-3 double play against Jeremy Farrell. However, that was Nalepa’s best pitch of the inning as he allowed an RBI single and an RBI double before getting out of the inning.

“It’s a pitcher’s best friend,” Gutierrez said of the double plays his teammates turned. “You always want to get double plays to get you out of big jams. Keep finding the zone, get ground balls and let the defense work.”

Right-hander Kyle Bellamy pitched the final 2-1/3 innings, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out two and he got Coleman to line out to defensive replacement Adan Severino in left field to secure the win.

“It's a great opportunity for our team and definitely helps us prepare to go to the next step in Regionals,” said DiNatale, who was named tournament MVP. “Competition was just amazing. You had the top three teams in the country in this tournament. I think it's going to help us get us prepared and gave us a little momentum going into regionals. It was a great setting and good thing for our school.”

Miami will be hosting both Regionals and – if they make it that far – Super Regionals at Mark Light Stadium in Coral Gables.

Other regional sites are:
Athens, Ga./University of Georgia
Ann Arbor, Mich./University of Michigan
Baton Rouge, La./LSU
Cary, N.C./University of North Carolina
College Station, Texas/Texas A&M
Conway, S.C./Coastal Carolina
Fullerton, Calif./California State Fullerton
Houston/Rice University
Lincoln, Neb./University of Nebraska
Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach State
Raleigh, N.C./NC State
Stanford, Calif./Stanford
Stillwater, Okla./Oklahoma State
Tallahassee, Fla./Florida State
Tempe, Ariz./Arizona State

The field of 64 teams for Regionals will be announced tomorrow morning.

Quotes and photo courtesy of www.theacc.com.

ACC Tournament Wrap-Up

I will have an ACC Tournament Wrap-Up, including analysis of the ACC title game between No. 1 Miami and No. 6 Virginia at some point on Sunday night.

Until then, sit back and relax and don't get too drunk =)

Cheers!!

Here are the seedings of the 2008 ACC Baseball Tournament which starts Wednesday at the Baseball Grounds in Jacksonville, Fla:

1. Miami Hurricanes (43-8, 23-5)
2. Florida State Seminoles (46-9, 24-6)
3. North Carolina Tar Heels (45-10, 22-7)
4. North Carolina State Wolf Pack (37-18, 18-11)
5. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (38-17, 16-14)
6. Virginia Cavaliers (36-19, 15-15)
7. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (24-29, 13-16)
8. Clemson Tigers (30-25-1, 11-18-1)

By virtue of the best winning percentage in the league (a mere .021 points higher than Florida State), the Hurricanes clinched the No. 1 overall seed in the ACC – and in “Division A” – despite the fact they lost their only series of the year this past weekend to the No. 3 seeded Tar Heels.

Division A, you say? Yes, Division A. It’s more like Pool A with the way this tournament is set up, but the ACC wants to call it Division A, so, let’s call it Division A. In the Division A pool – whoops, I mean bracket – are seeds 1, 4, 5, 8. I will tell you who they are to keep you from scrolling up – Miami, N.C. State, Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Florida State, the team with the second best record –I did it again, winning percentage – in the ACC is the No. 2 overall seed, but they are the No. 1 seed for Division B. In the Division B bracket are seeds 2, 3, 6, 7. Again, let me tell you to keep you from scrolling up – FSU, North Carolina, Virginia and Wake Forest.

The best team from bracket Division A and bracket Division B will face-off for the title on Sunday.

(Don’t worry, I will go over the schedule later on.)

The team with the most to prove here is – gasp! – North Carolina. That’s right, I didn’t say Miami. They are the defending league champions, and they have been to the College World Series final two consecutive seasons. The Heels may be playing a little more relaxed now, thanks to the series win in Coral Gables this weekend. They’re going to need it in probably the tougher of the two brackets.

However, many people – fans, players and coaches – have been heard of saying anything less than a National Title is a disappointing season for this Miami Hurricanes team.

Well, a national title could still happen even if Miami doesn’t make the title game of the ACC tournament. Blasphemous, I know. But, with the Hurricanes being the No. 2 team in the country – or No. 3 if you pay attention to the Baseball America Poll more than the Collegiate Baseball poll – they are guaranteed to host at least a Regional in Coral Gables and maybe even a Super Regional if they man-handle the teams that come for the Regional. So, when was the last time Miami didn’t make it to Omaha, Neb., when they played both a Regional and Super Regional in Coral Gables? One word: Never.

The problem with the ACC is, even though they had four teams in the Top 25 of each poll (Miami, North Carolina, FSU and N.C. State), the top three in the conference – Miami, North Carolina and FSU – are the only teams which have played lights-out baseball for the entire season including in league play.

If you look at the other five teams in the tournament, their league records aren’t that hot. With the exception of N.C. State, which is seven games over .500 in the league (18-11), everyone else is just two games over .500 or – gulp! – worse. Georgia Tech is 16-14, Virginia is 15-15, Wake Forest is 13-16 and Clemson is 11-18-1. In fact, if Duke would’ve won at least two more conference games, Clemson is on the outside looking in with Duke having a record of 12-16-1. Alas, they lost those two games and are just 10-18-1. Could anyone imagine an ACC tournament without the Clemson Tigers?

So, what does it all mean?

It means that Miami and North Carolina could face-off again, this time for a league title. Or, it could mean that N.C. State and Florida State could go at it for the league title. Or, well, there are plenty of possibilities, but the best one for the people in Jacksonville, Fla., -- or that are going there – would probably Miami vs. North Carolina, No. 2 vs. No. 1, for the league title.

Should be a good tournament either way.

Okay, now the schedule:

Wednesday, May 21
G1: #4 NC State vs. #5 Georgia Tech 10 a.m. (FSNS, SUN, CSMA)
G2: #1 Miami vs. #8 Clemson 1 p.m. (FSNS, SUN, CSMA)
G3: #2 Florida State vs. #7 Wake Forest 5 p.m. (SPSO, SUN)
G4: #3 North Carolina vs. #6 Virginia 8 p.m. (SPSO, SUN)

Thursday, May 22
G5: #1 Miami vs. #5 Georgia Tech 5 p.m. (FSNS, SUN)
G6: #4 NC State vs. #8 Clemson 8 p.m. (FSNS, SUN, CSMA)

Friday, May 23
G7: #2 Florida State vs. #6 Virginia 5 p.m. (SPSO, NESN)
G8: #3 North Carolina vs. #7 Wake Forest 8 p.m. (SPSO, CSMA)

Saturday, May 24
G9: #5 Georgia Tech vs. #8 Clemson 10 a.m. (SPSO, FSNFL, CSMA)
G10: #1 Miami vs. #4 NC State 1 p.m. (SPSO, FSNFL, CSMA)
G11: #2 Florida State vs. #3 North Carolina 5 p.m. (SPSO, SUN, NESN)
G12: #6 Virginia vs. #7 Wake Forest 8 p.m. (SPSO, SUN)

Sunday, May 25
Championship Game 1:00 p.m. (FSNS, SUN, CSMA)

TV Legends:
FSNS - FOX Sports Network South
FSN-FL - FOX Sports Network - Florida
SUN - SunSports
CSMA - Comcast Sports Mid-Atlantic
SPSO - Sports South
NESN - New England Sports Network

Chris Hernandez Wins ACC Pitcher of the Week

Another weekend, another sweep for the top ranked Miami Hurricanes Baseball team. This past weekend the victim was Virginia, ranked 16th in the nation. Chris Hernandez had an outstanding outing against UVa in the first matchup of the weekend going eight innings and striking out eleven to pace a 1-0 win over the Caves.

The Canes take a break from ACC action this weekend with a three game series against St Mary's the same school Miami faced and beat in the first round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament last month.

Erickson Starts as Canes Beat FSU in Rubber Match

The Hurricanes have returned to the apex of College Baseball. This week, the Canes already ranked number one in all three major Baseball polls should be undisputed kings of the hill after winning two of three in Tallahassee against #2 Florida State.

Eric Erickson returned to the starting rotation today after injury and went 4 strong innings before yielding to the bullpen. The Hurricanes had an 11-4 lead through four innings but were roughed up in the fifth and sixth innings. Carlos Guiterrez closed the deal in the bottom of the 7th striking out Tyler Holt. The game went final after seven innings per league policy which allows no inning to begin after 3:30pm on a Sunday.

Yonder Alonso had his first career grand slam, while Blake Tekotte and Dennis Raben joined Alonso in nabbing two hits. The Canes finished their recent road trip 6-1 including a sweep of Georgia Tech. The Canes play Virginia in ACC action this weekend at the Light.

Weeks Leads #1 Miami to Series Opening Win

Jemille Weeks spurned a ten run sixth inning, which lead #1 Miami to an 11-4 series opening win Friday night over #2 Florida State. Despite giving up four early runs, Chris Hernandez shut down the Noles in the middle innings and the bullpen did the rest.

Denis Raben and Blake Tekotte also had outstanding games both collecting two hits. Miami's attack will have to withstand Geoff Parker's pitching tonight for FSU as he is one of the best pitchers in the ACC.

The Rivalry is Back

   Alonso was the hero against FAU Wednesday, but can the Canes stay #1 after FSU?

It's good to have the Miami-Florida State rivalry back at the apex of College Baseball, with #1 ranked Miami traveling to Tallahassee to face #2 FSU this weekend. As someone who spent much of the late 1990s and early part of this decade in Tallahassee during the spring, this rivalry can at times define the entire sport of College Baseball. In 1999, I attended two of the three games in Tallahassee between the two teams, and saw FSU's only win over Miami that season. The Hurricanes went on to win the National Championship, including a come from behind victory in the title game of the College World Series against Florida State.

Miami's move to the ACC coupled with the addition of two other new teams to the ACC has cut the number of games a year played between the two schools from six to three. It has also forced a change in Miami's longstanding rivalry with local power Florida Atlantic, and Florida State's series with Florida into a combination of one off mid week games. (Interestingly Miami and Florida have been able to keep their traditional early season series but that about kills Miami's non conference weekend schedule for the season) Last night, Yonder Alonso hit a two out, two run homer to defeat FAU a team that has played Miami about as well as anyone this season.

But the Hurricanes have not faced anyone of FSU's caliber yet. That having been said Florida State hasn't faced anyone of Miami's caliber yet. Add to this the real possibility that Miami ace Eric Erickson could return to the starting rotation for Sunday's potential rubber match. "I’m not sure [if he'll pitch]," Manager Jim Morris told the Miami Herald Wednesday. "I’ll know more today after practice when he throws his first bullpen in a month. I do expect him to be back to be honest, but I don’t know that for right now."

Whether or not Erickson does return the Canes rotation has been fine this season. Freshman Chris Hernandez will start either Friday or Saturday and he has been to this point in the season simply awesome. But Florida State's pitching is if anything even better than Miami's. 

This is going to be fun: A renewal of the biggest rivalry in college baseball with the national #1 ranking on the line. Miami-Florida State in April: It doesn't get any better and bigger than this. 

#1 Miami sweeps #10 Georgia Tech in Doubleheader

Tekotte/CSTV.com

Chris Hernandez is one of the best freshmen pitchers in recent years at the "U. " Add that he's a lefty and you have a game changer. Hernandez pitched six solid innings and the bullpen closed the deal in a 10-5 Canes win.

In game two, Blake Tekotte had two home runs and led the Canes to a 15-5 victory. The doubleheader was scheduled because of Friday's tragic death of Jackets pitcher Michael Hutts. Friday's game was postponed until Saturday. First pitch today is at 1pm on CSS.

Canes Baseball Rolling

Yonder Alonso and the Canes swept Clemson this weekend


Jim Morris' Canes are off to far and away their best start since joining the ACC four years ago. Dave DiNatale hit yet another home run today as the Canes came from behind to defeat Clemson and complete a weekend sweep of the Tigers. At 26-2 and 12-1 in the ACC, the Canes are looking like a sure fire bet to host both a regional and super regional in Coral Gables this year.

The Hurricanes however, may not be the best team in Florida or the ACC. That distinction could belong to the gang up the road in Tallahassee. The Seminoles are 14-1 in the ACC and just pounded arch rival Florida the other day. The Noles pitching is phenomenal especially their bullpen which I consider to be the best in the nation.

Right now you'd be hard pressed to find two teams playing better baseball in the land than Miami and Florida State. The Hurricanes go to Atlanta next weekend for a three game series against Georgia Tech. In that series it will be critical for Jemile Weeks to continue his hot form, which has been helped by having Blake Tekote on base so often ahead of him.

Following the trip to Atlanta the Canes go to Tallahassee for the big series against Florida State. That weekend will be lively in Tallahassee and certainly will go a long way towards determining what happens as far as seeding for the regionals.

ACC Outlook

If the baseball season were to end today, here’s how the seeds for the ACC Tournament in Jacksonville, Fla. would look like:

1. Florida State (35-4, 13-2)
2. North Carolina (32-6, 13-5)
3. Clemson (25-10, 10-5)
4. Virginia (31-8, 11-6)
5. N.C. State (26-11, 11-7)
6. Georgia Tech (22-14, 10-7)
7. Miami (22-16, 8-10)
8. Wake Forest (21-18, 8-10)

That means that the Hurricanes would face the Tar Heels in the first round and the Seminoles would face the Demon Deacons.

Good thing there’s a little over a month left for the Hurricanes to make their push to a higher seed. Of course, other teams would need to help them.

Here are the ACC series to watch over the last month or so of the season:

April 20-22:

Miami at Virginia Tech
North Carolina at Florida State
Virginia at Clemson
Wake Forest at Boston College

April 27-29:

Florida State at Miami
North Carolina at N.C. State
Georgia Tech at Clemson

May 5-7:

Florida State at Maryland
Wright State at Miami

May 11-13:

Miami at Wake Forest
Clemson at Florida State
Georgia Tech at North Carolina
N.C. State at Virginia

May 17-19:

Clemson at N.C. State
Florida State at Georgia Tech
Duke at Miami

Unbelievable

Miami just dropped another game to Mercer. They are now 0-2 on the season. The Hurricanes' bullpen scares me half to death. Nothing there. No arm that you can say, "OK, this kid can stop the bleeding."

Florida State, on the other hand, has started 2-0 beating Tennessee in two out of three games so far -- blanking them, 4-0, yesterday.

Yes it's early so I shouldn't be panicking just yet, but that bullpen has nobody -- not yet, anyway.

Noles fans, don't get too high and mighty on them just yet. It's early in the season.

More on this tomorrow, after both 1 p.m. games and before the Super Bowl.