Miami vs Virgina Tech Baseball this Sunday

By foxsports
Published

# 14 Miami Hurricanes (22-7, 10-2) visit # 25 Virginia Tech (21-10, 6-6) for a three-game series in Blacksburg, Virginia this weekend.
The Hokies are coming off a historic week which saw them win their first ever series against #4 Florida State. Behind the experienced arm of junior starter Justin Wright, the Hokies won the Friday opener 10-5, marking only their second win in the last 27 meetings against the perennial power Seminoles.

The Florida State series, coupled with wins earlier in the week over VMI and East Tennessee State earned Virginia Tech a place in Baseball America’s top 25 for the first time since 1992.
Miami enter the series playing arguably the best baseball in the ACC. The Hurricanes have won seven in a row and have been red-hot with the bats recently, but the strength of the team lies in the bullpen.

Explosive freshman E.J. Ecinosa leads the Hurricanes with 15 appearances out of the bullpen and has conceded just six runs in over 30 innings of work. Fellow freshman Eric Whaley is 3-0 out of the ‘pen and sophomore Daniel Miranda is holding opponents to a .186 batting average in his 14 bullpen appearances. All three were drafted by major league teams in the 2008 and 2009 drafts but remain committed to winning a College World Series title at Miami this season.

Virginia Tech relies heavily on junior Austin Wates and senior Steve Domecus to lead their lineup. Wates, out of Richmond, Virginia, is batting for an impressive .436 average and leads the Hokies with ten stolen bases.

Domecus splits time between catcher and the outfield but has been very consistent at the plate in 2010 with a .341 average, 8 home runs and 27 RBIs.

Saturday’s pitching matchup features Miami lefthander Eric Erickson (2-1, 3.12) going against Virginia Tech’s Mathew Price (4-1, 4.26). Erickson is 19-5 with a 3.27 ERA in his Hurricane career but missed all of 2009 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Erickson was solid in his start against Wake Forest last weekend giving up one run in five innings of work, and will try to achieve similar results in Blacksburg on Saturday.

The Hokies’ Matthew Price will be making the sixth start of his sophomore season, and the former high school quarterback will hope to continue the Hokies’ recent hot streak.
















Catch all of Saturday’s action LIVE on FCS Atlantic starting at 1pm EST.