Officially, spring started on March 20, 2011. But in Massachusetts this past weekend, winter weather was in full force.
Two of Miami’s games against Boston College were postponed due to snow and freezing rain.
Maybe the University of Miami Athletic Department will think twice next season before scheduling an early April baseball series in the northeast.
The Hurricanes (17-11, 8-3) and Eagles (10-15, 4-7) were only able to play two of three scheduled contests against each other, squeezing in a double header on Sunday. Miami won both contests by scores of 19-4 and 7-6 respectively.
The two wins were a nice turnaround for the Hurricanes, who were swept by Georgia Tech at home last weekend.
In the first game of the double header the Hurricanes used a combination of starting and relief pitching to cruise past the Eagles. Sophomores Eric Whaley and E.J. Encinosa pitched seven combined innings, holding the Boston College lineup to three runs.
Senior Michael Rudman and sophomore Zach Robinson went the rest of the way for the ‘Canes, pitching two combined innings allowing one run.
The Miami lineup exploded for 26 hits in the rout of BC. Sophomores Zeke DeVoss, Cade Kreuter and Chantz Mack all hit homeruns in the game, while junior Harold Martinez went 4-6 at the plate, scoring four times.
In Sunday’s second game Miami escaped a surging Eagles team due in large part to time restrictions that were placed on the contest. The game went only five innings, with the Eagles scoring three runs in the bottom of the frame to pull within one.
Due to the double header and the Hurricanes travel schedule, however, it was the last inning of the game as per NCAA rules and regulations.
Miami jumped out to an early lead in the shortened win, scoring five runs in the first inning, adding another run in the second and fifth innings respectively.
Juniors Harold Martinez and Rony Rodriguez combined to go 4-6 in the team’s second victory of the day, collecting two RBI each.
Freshman pitcher Bryan Radziewski took the win, improving his record to 4-2 on the year.
Miami will return to the warm weather of Florida this week, taking on Florida Gulf Coast in Fort Myers on Wednesday, followed by a three game weekend series at home against ACC foe NC State.
Last season the Hurricanes went 2-1 against the Wolfpack. All three games can be heard on 90.5 WVUM or online at WVUM.org.
Adam Berger may be contacted at aberger@themiamihurricane.com