The 2014 Hurricane Club #BuildingChampions Spring Tour will visit Orlando and Jacksonville and will featureAl Golden,Blake Jamesand others. Registration is availableonlineor by calling the Hurricane Club at 305-284-6699.
The tour's first stop will be a dinner May 8 at the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Orlando. Pre-RSVP Hurricane Club members are $50 and non-Hurricane Club members are $75. A reception will be held at 6:30 pm with dinner at 7 pm.
On the next night, the Spring Tour will stop in Jacksonville for a dinner May 9 at the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center at 6:30 p.m. Pre-RSVP Hurricane Club members are $65 each and non-Hurricane Club members are $100. James, Golden and WBB head coachKatie Meierwill be on hand in Jacksonville.
Coach Golden is confirmed for all events and other coaches will be added throughout the spring. Registration for both events isnow available online, or by calling the Hurricane Club.
Chicago will once again be the site of an additional fundraising event. The University of Miami Alumni Club of Chicago and the Hurricane Club will co-host the annual Chicago Coaches Dinner on Thursday, May 22, at The Montgomery Club.
The Miami Hurricanes women’s tennis team will be hosting NCAA Regionals at the Schiff Tennis Center for the 10th consecutive year.
The 15th-ranked Hurricanes (19-5) are the 12th overall seed in the tournament and will host Boston University, No. 18 Oklahoma and No. 54 Wichita State in Coral Gables on May 9-10.
Miami will open its 19th consecutive NCAA tournament against the Boston Terriers, who finished the 2013-14 season 14-6 overall and champions of the Patriot League.
The Sooners, who fell to Texas Tech in the Big 12 Championship, are 16-6 overall this spring. Wichita State comes to Coral Gables with a 16-6 record and as winners of the Missouri Valley Conference.
First- and second-round competition features four teams playing in a single-elimination format. The winner of each site advances to the national tournament in Athens, Georgia, where the 16 teams will compete for the national championship May 15-20.
Head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews has now reached the NCAA tournament in each of her 13 seasons at the helm of the program in Coral Gables, and has led the Hurricanes to the Sweet Sixteen round eight consecutive years. More impressively, Miami is the only program in the country to have advanced to the Elite Eight round in each of the last five seasons.
This spring, the consistent Hurricanes women's tennis team earned a share of the ACC regular season championship but fell to Virginia in the semifinals of the ACC Championships.
For more information on the Hurricanes women’s tennis team in the NCAA Tournament, follow @HurricaneTennis onTwitter.
Jim Morris, the long-time baseball coach of your Miami Hurricanes, has been the subject of much debate and even some (and in our opinion unwarranted) harsh criticism over the past several years.
Yet, he just recently reached the major milestone of 900 wins as a Head Coach.
Yes, it is true that over the last three to five years the Hurricane hard-ballers performance in terms of both offensive production and defensive execution seems to have slipped from the incredibly lofty perch on which UM baseball rested for many, many years.
However, with wins in 19 of 20 games, including a weekend sweep at Clemson, coach Morris is feeling a lot better about his team's chances of being among the teams in Omaha this year.
"I wish it was tournament time today, the way we're playing," Morris said Monday. The Atlantic Coast Conference-leading Hurricanes (32-13, 19-5) have used pitching, defense and timely hitting to crack the top 10 in this week's major polls.
Miami's starting rotation of junior left-handers Chris Diaz (7-0), Andrew Suarez (4-2) and Bryan Radziewski (4-2) have combined to allow just 25 earned runs in their last 15 starts. Freshman setup man Cooper Hammond (5-0) has a 2.01 ERA and freshman closer Bryan Garcia is second in the ACC with 13 saves.
The pitchers and defense have combined for a 2.25 ERA and .984 fielding percentage the past 20 games compared with 3.97 and .964 the first 25.
Freshman catcher Zack Collins is batting .408 and driven in or scored 41 of Miami's 120 runs the last 20 games. Collins, at .306, and fellow freshman Willie Abreu, at .302, are the team's top two hitters.
"When we were 13-12, people were wondering what went wrong," Morris said. "I told people our young guys are going to be good, just wait."
Miami has played in the NCAA tournament 42 straight years but hasn't made it past regionals since 2010. The Hurricanes' five-year CWS drought is their longest since they first made it to Omaha in 1974.
"We've been there 23 times, 11 times since I've been coaching," said Morris, who's in his 21st season at Miami. "It's expected for us to be there. If you don't get there, then your fans aren't happy, and neither am I."
Morris, the winner of two National Championships at Miami, deserves the benefit of the doubt from all Hurricane fans, some of who at times and seemingly more now than ever, want to question his continued presence in the dugout at The U.
And if you need to be convinced of that, then reaching a mear 900 wins should just about do it, now don’t U think?
Miami (32-13) improved to 19-1 in its last 20 games by scoring two runs apiece in the first, fourth and fifth innings. The Hurricanes then scored four runs in the eighth inning to put the game out of reach.
Miami's Alex Hernandez had a career-high four hits to lead the Hurricanes, who had six players with double-digit hits.
Steve Wilkerson hit a single in the seventh inning to become the 45th Tiger in the ACC era (1954-14) to join the 200-hit club. It also extended his hitting streak to 10 games, his fifth career double-digit hitting streak, for the Tigers (25-19, 12-11 ACC).
UM starter Bryan Radziewski (4-2) allowed just one run on four hits with nine strikeouts in 6.0 innings pitched to earn the win. Clemson starter Jake Long (2-3) suffered the loss.
This is the time of the year when sports fans experience "The Dead Season".
After the "Kings of Spring" have finished the annual ritual of Spring practice by either excitedly teasing or simply not pleasing their faithful fans, all college football teams take an extended Summer break until Fall practice resumes.
Clearly, another season of pigskin promises, high hopes and conference championship dreams are many, many months away.
College basketball ended with some serious March madness several weeks ago. Miami did not make the big dance this season after winning the ACC last year. But Hurricane fans still rejoiced when the Florida Gators, who successfully made the final four, finally lost out on another National Championship.
Sure, college baseball is just getting to the most exciting part of the season, and many UM fans here at Canespace love their diamond dogs, but most college sports fans do not appreciate the delicate art of what makes up a college baseball game.
And of course, you have the highly respected and successful UM women's tennis team under the guidance of Canespacers Terrance Sullivan and Rob Ueltschi, both of whom who never miss a a chance to shout out their favorite team's accomplishments.
Yet most Hurricane fans could care less about these accomplished women and their sport. That, in our opinion, is nothing short of a damn shame.
No. 11 Miami scored four runs in the eighth to take a late 6-3 lead over Notre Dame, and held on in the ninth for a series-clinching victory over the Fighting Irish Monday night at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.
The win gave Miami its fourth consecutive ACC series win, as the Hurricanes moved into a tie with No. 1 Virginia and No. 4 Florida State for the best record in the conference.
Though the nation's longest winning streak was snapped in Sunday night's 7-4 loss, the Hurricanes rebounded to capture another ACC series and their 15th win in the last 16 tries.
"It's a big win for us," Jim Morris said. "To win the series is huge. Their [pitcher] was really good...he's one of the best pitchers we have faced. It was a great team effort to come back there in the eighth after we gave up a couple of runs."
A clutch RBI triple from senior Tyler Palmer tied the game in the eighth, while a sacrifice fly from freshman Zack Collins - who finished the series with seven hits in 12 at bats - sent Miami to the late lead. Notre Dame reliever Donnie Hissa struggled with control in relief of starter Pat Connaughton (1-3), issuing three walks and forcing in two runs over just one-third of an inning to prolong Miami's rally.
Morris said the decision to send Palmer from third on Collins' shallow flyout was not an easy one.
"Their scouting report said to try and run on their outfielders," Morris said. "We had the right guy at third who can run...that's probably the closest I've ever had a guy tag [from] before."
Freshman righthander Bryan Garcia (4-2), who entered in the eighth with his team trailing 3-2, retired the Irish in order in the ninth to clinch the series. Palmer's hit helped shift momentum on a night when the Hurricanes were struggling to generate much offense against Connaughton.
"He got ahead 0-2 - I missed two fastballs - then he missed away with a fastball," Palmer said of his at bat. "I didn't think he would throw a breaking ball with that pitch because he blew me away with two fastballs. He left [a fastball] over the plate, and I got a good pitch to drive.We had a couple chances early on in the game to put them away," Palmer said. "When they responded, we had to respond as well, and that's exactly what we did."
The Hurricanes (27-13, 16-5 ACC) took their first lead of the night in the fourth, when Miami's sensational freshmen duo of Collins and Willie Abreu combined for back-to-back hits to score two runs. An RBI double from Collins into the rightfield corner scored Carey to tie the game 1-1, and an RBI single to rightfield from Abreu made it 2-1 in favor of the Hurricanes.
Collins, who set a new career high with four hits Sunday night, continued his hot streak by roping one past the outstretched glove of Notre Dame first baseman Blaise Lezynski for extra bases. The hit drove in the speedy Carey from second, marking Collins' team-high 31st RBI of the spring. Abreu then cranked a 2-0 pitch through the rightside to plate a sliding Collins for the 2-1 lead.
After surrendering a run on a sacrifice fly in the fourth, Miami lefthander Bryan Radziewski managed to keep Notre Dame off the board until the seventh - when a two-RBI single from Mac Hudgins saw Notre Dame (16-23, 4-17 ACC) regain a 3-2 advantage.
Facing a one-run deficit in the eighth, the Hurricanes responded by batting around - sending 10 batters to the plate - and scoring four runs to regain the lead.
"We don't give up," Palmer said. "We know we have the sticks to come back at any time."
Morris said he was proud of the way his team responded when facing a late uphill battle.
"I'm proud of the way our guys bouncing back in that situation," Morris said. "You can [give up], because this guy was really throwing it good.|
With their seven-game homestand wrapped up, the Hurricanes next travel to nearby Boca Raton, Fla., for a matchup FAU Wed., April 23. First pitch for the contest, slated for broadcast on WVUM 90.5 FM, is set for 6:30 p.m.
The Miami Hurricanes women’s tennis team jumped one spot to No. 15 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis rankings (ITA) released on Tuesday. Miami (16-4, 10-2 ACC) used a 2-0 weekend, posting huge road wins against ACC rivals No. 15 Clemson and No. 45 Florida State, to make its latest leap in the rankings.
Stephanie Wagner, who was named the ACC’s Player of the Week on Tuesday, made the biggest jump among Hurricane singles players in the poll to No. 36. Ranked 48th in the poll last week, Wagner picked up a pair of impressive wins against Florida State’s Daneika Borthwick and Clemson’s 46th-ranked Yana Koroleva.
Wagner (seen above at L next to KYCane) has been reliable at the Hurricanes’ top singles spot this spring, posting a 17-4 overall record and 11-2 record at the No. 1 spot. The Amberg, Germany native hasn’t missed a beat in ACC contests, recording a 10-2 record against conference foes.
In addition to Wagner, sophomore Kelsey Laurente appeared in the ITA singles poll for the seventh consecutive week at No. 54. Laurente has bounced around the one and two singles spot for Miami and is 12-6 this spring with three wins against ranked opponents.
Two Hurricane doubles teams are currently ranked: Monique Albuquerque and Clementina Riobueno checking in at No. 21 and Melissa Bolivar and Laurente at No. 40.
Albuquerque and Riobueno have been nearly unbeatable as the top doubles team, posting a 16-2 overall record and an 8-1 ACC mark. Laurente and Bolivar have posted a 10-3 overall mark and are 5-2 in ACC play.
Then yesterday, on Friday afternoon, the 15th-ranked Hurricanes swept ACC rival No. 60 Virginia Tech 7-0 at home.
“Today we came out and played good doubles,” assistant coach Laura Vallverdu said. "It’s nice to see two doubles playing better. After doubles, I thought all of the girls came out strong, took care of both sets and looked good physically out there while also getting mentally prepared for Sunday.”
After an afternoon shower delayed the start of doubles, Miami (17-4, 11-2) took the point against the Hokies in just 45 minutes of action.
The Hurricanes returned to the doubles lineup they have relied on for most of the spring, with No. 21 Monique Albuquerque and Clementina Riobueno at the top spot, No. 40 Melissa Bolivar and Kelsey Laurente at two and Stephanie Wagner and Lina Lileikite at the third spot.
Miami jetted out to leads in all three of the matches, but two and three doubles were the first to reach eight wins to earn Miami the doubles point. At two doubles, Bolivar and Laurente opened up with six straight wins before Raluca Mita and Carol Kahoun got on the board. The Miami duo closed out the match with two straight wins.
At three doubles, Wagner and Liliekite jumped out on top of Rebecca Harris and Laura Ramthun, never looking back. Wagner and Lileikite improved their record to 7-2 on the year en route to the 8-0 win.
Riobueno and Albuquerque started out the match with a 3-1 lead before winning the next three straight. The Hurricanes led 7-2 when the match was stopped after Miami took the doubles point.
In singles, the Hurricanes raced out to huge leads at the five and six spots. At the sixth spot, Bolivar made easy work of Rebecca Harris, beating her in straight sets 6-1, 6-0. On the season, Bolivar improved to 16-6 and 10-3 in ACC play.
Minutes player, Albuquerque was the next to add a point on the board for Miami. In dominant fashion, Albuquerque discarded Laura Ramthun 6-0, 6-3. Albuquerque’s win was her 15th in a row and 13th straight in ACC play. Albuquerque increased her win total on the spring to a team-high 20 wins.
36th-ranked Wagner dominated her opening set against Kelly Williford 6-0 and was well on her way to a second set win when the match entered its second rain delay of the afternoon. After clearing the courts and a brief stop in action, Wagner finished off her second set 6-3 to signal Miami’s fourth point of the afternoon.
Playing at three singles, No. 62 Laurente returned to winning ways with a 6-3, 6-1 victory against Sansitha Nandakumar. Laurente opened up the match with a 4-1 lead before closing out the first set 6-3. In the second set, Laurente rolled to a 6-1 win. Laurente’s victory improves her record to 13-6 overall and 7-5 in ACC play.
“I was happy to see Kelsey go out there and be more business-like,” Vallverdu said. “She had an agenda and she did what she had to do. She was able to implement what we’ve been talking about and we’re hoping to have all of our players ready to go on Sunday.”
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The Miami Hurricanes baseball team, coached by skipper Jim Morris and riding momentum from the nation's longest winning streak, rose as high as No. 11 in the weekly college baseball polls released Monday.
Miami (25-12, 14-4 ACC), which has won 12 consecutive games dating back to March 24, jumped from No. 20 to No. 11 in Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's rankings, matching its best ranking of the season.
The Hurricanes also made among the biggest leaps of any team in the Baseball America poll (No. 15 to No. 24), USA TODAY Coaches Poll (No. 17 to No. 24) and Perfect Game's weekly rankings (No. 17 to No. 25).
After posting its third consecutive three-game ACC sweep for the first time in program history, Miami moved into a tie for first place in the ACC with a 14-4 mark in league play.
To view Collegiate Baseball's newest poll, click HERE. To view Baseball America's poll, click HERE and for Perfect Game's weekly rankings, HERE.
The Hurricanes will return to the diamond on Wednesday, April 16 for a matchup with in-state foe FAU. First pitch for the game is set for 6 p.m. from Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.
Another spring football season is complete and the Kings of Spring are done. The Miami Hurricanes’ spring slate culminated with the #UNITE14 Spring Game on Saturday afternoon at Sun Life Stadium.
Miami’s Spring Game featured 1-on-1 competitions, 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 using a unique scoring system. When it was finished, the defense narrowly defeated the offense 61-60.
Redshirt freshman QB Kevin Olsen was not very good, going just 7-of-21 for 65 yards and one interception. On the other hand, sophomore Gray Crow looked very solid going 9-of-20 for 63 yards.
Many observers felt that Crow may have taken the upper hand in the QB race with his steady if not spectacular performance on Saturday. Most of us at Canespace already knew that Crow would be the opening day starter so it is no big surprise here.
Sophomore Gus Edwards handled most of the offensive production, picking up 70 yards on the ground. Sophomore Walter Tucker scored the offense’s lone TD in the 11-on-11 portion on a 3-yard run.
On defense, the Hurricanes were led by five tackles each from sophomore S Jamal Carter and junior S Dallas Crawford. Freshman LB Juwon Young and junior DB Tracy Howard accounted for both defensive takeaways. At halftime, four players were honored for their hard work during the spring – Ronald Regula, Crawford, Standish Dobard and Jamal Carter.
The Hurricanes also honored Hunter Knighton. Prior to the game, fans were treated to the unveiling of the Hurricanes’ new uniforms for the 2014 season. The new line features 48 different uniform combinations with three helmets (white and silver; orange; and traditional white), four jersey tops (“Smoke”, “Surge”, “Stormtrooper”, and “Juice) and four pants in the same colors.
Al Golden’s fourth season as head coach will begin Sept. 1 at Louisville on ESPN. Miami will open Fall camp the first week of August.
SCRIMMAGE STATISTICS - WHITE (DEFENSE) 61, ORANGE (OFFENSE) 60
OFFENSE Rushing: Edwards 19-70, Tucker 11-36 1 TD, De’Andre Johnson 5-11, Crow 1-(-1), Olsen 1-(-4) Passing: Olsen 7-21-1-65 0 TD, Crow 9-20-1-63 0 TD Receiving: Lewis 3-36, Water 3-12, Scott 2-33, Walford 2-13, Sandland 1-13, Tucker 1-9, Kidd 1-6, Coley 1-6, Jones 1-0
DEFENSE Tackles: Carter 5, D. Crawford 5, Pierre 4, Perryman 4, Armbrister 3, Elder 3, Grace 3, Howard 2, Kirby 2, Muhammad 2, Hamilton 2, McCord 2, Figueroa 2, Owens 2, Fentress 2, Crawford 1, Burns 1, Kamalu 1, Chickillo 1, Moore 1, Heurtelou 1 TFL: Owens 1.0-1, Blue 1.0-1, Kamalu 1.0-4, Kirby 1.0-1, Pierre 1.0-4, Chickillo 1.0-1, Fentress 1.0-2 Sacks: Kamalu 1.0-4, Chickillo 1.0-1 PBU: Grace 1, Fentress 1, Armbrister 1, Kamalu 1, Hamilton 1 INT: Young 1, Howard 1