May 8, 2005

Box Score

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) - Eddy Rodriguez's one-out walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning gave fourth-ranked Miami a 6-5 win Sunday afternoon at Mark Light Field and completed a three-game sweep of Jacksonville in the Hurricanes' final regular-season series at home. The Hurricanes improved to 36-11-1 this season while Jacksonville slipped to 21-29 overall.

Rodriguez capped off a career weekend, going 3-for-4 with a run batted in. The sophomore catcher raised his average from .286 to .336 with a 10-for-12 performance at the plate in the series with a double, two home runs, five runs scored and four RBIs.

Sophomore Chris Perez picked up the win with three and one-third innings of one-hit relief to run his record to 5-1 this season. Hunter Davis was charged with the loss in four and two-thirds innings of relief, giving up six hits and one run. JU starter Ken DeVries yielded four earned runs on four hits in four and two-thirds innings of work with seven walks and three strikeouts.

The Hurricanes loaded the bases in the 10th on a leadoff walk to Ryan Braun, a double by Jon Jay and an intentional walk to Danny Valencia. Walter Diaz lined out to third before Rodriguez stepped to the plate and put a pitch from Davis off the left field wall to score Braun and end the game.

Hurricane freshman Manny Miguelez gave up three runs (two earned) on three hits with a strikeout in three and two-thirds innings to earn a no-decision in his first career start.

Miguelez retired the first nine Dolphin batters in order before Doug Fowler put a 2-2 pitch into the palm trees beyond the left field fence for a 1-0 lead in the third.

Alex Garabedian and Danny Figueroa drew walks in the Miami half of the third to put runners on first and second with two outs. Paco Figueroa's line drive to center field went past a diving Doug Fowler and rolled to the fence, resulting in a three-run inside-the-park home run and a 3-1 UM lead.

Jacksonville loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth and tied the game when Jon Galui reached base on an error to score Daniel Murphy and Logan James grounded into a double play to drive in Sean McHugh. Miguelez was replaced by Danny Gil, who struck out Matt Lopez looking to end the inning.

Jay led off the Miami fourth with a ground-rule double that bounced over the fence in left field. Valencia singled to center to score Jay and the Hurricanes regained the lead at 4-3. Jay singled to right in the fifth to score Paco Figueroa and increase the lead to 5-3.

The Dolphins wouldn't go away. James smacked a two-out single to left in the sixth inning off lefty Andrew Lane to bring in McHugh to come within 5-4. JU tied the game in the seventh on a double to dead-center that drove in Fowler.

Jay went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and increased his average from .436 to .456 in the series.

Miami wraps up its regular season with a crucial pair of Atlantic Coast Conference series at Virginia and Clemson that will have a major bearing on seeding for the ACC Tournament. The Hurricanes are a half-game behind ACC leader Georgia Tech with a 17-6-1 record in conference play.

Notes: It was the final regular-season game played at Mark Light Field - the stadium will undergo renovations over the next two years and will be re-named Alex Rodriguez Park... Paco Figueroa's third-inning home run was the second inside-the-park homer of the year for Miami and his fourth home run of the season, setting a new career high.