The University of Miami continued their domination of Virginia Tech as they improved to 13-2 all-time against the Hokies. UM won the series against their Coastal Division foe at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.
The Canes (29-14, 13-11) won a series for the first time since the first weekend of April, when they beat FSU twice in three days. Virginia Tech (25-17, 10-13) remains at the cellar of the tough Coastal Division.
Miami beat the Hokies 4-1 to open the weekend set. The Hurricanes won for the first time on a Friday night since March 13 when they beat Duke. Despite the fact the Canes emerged victorious, the talk surrounding the team was the sudden injury Chris Hernandez sustained.
Hernandez was cruising along until the seventh inning, when a line drive grazed off his glove and smacked him in the lip. He was bleeding and was forced to leave the game on a stretcher. Hernandez went to a local hospital for precautionary reasons but gave a thumbs up sign, as he was carried out of the stadium. The sophomore stud tossed 6.1 innings, while allowing one hit and one run.
Hernandez received stitches in his lip and felt soreness in his mouth but will make his next scheduled start Friday night against Boston College.
“Chris [Hernandez] is a huge part of our team,” Head Coach Jim Morris said. “He is a great guy and everybody likes him a lot. It scares everybody when something like that happens.”
Standout closer Kyle Bellamy, who registered a four out save, echoed the same sentiments.
“He was pitching a heck of a game,” Bellamy said. “He was amazing and is back to his regular season form. That is baseball. One line drive cannot knock you out of the game. He is so tough we know he will be alright.”
Catcher Yasmani Grandal smashed an opposite field two run homer to provide key insurance runs. Earlier this week Grandal, along with battery mate Hernandez, was invited to the 2009 USA National Baseball Team trials over the summer.
Saturday Virginia Tech starter Justin Wright held the Canes to just two runs in eight innings while striking out ten. The Canes scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth but it was not enough as the Hokies prevailed 7-4.
The Hokies scored all of their runs in the fourth inning off starter David Gutierrez.
In the ninth, third string catcher David Villasuso hit a pinch hit home run. The homer was the first of his career.
The Canes won the rubber game Sunday behind another solid outing from Iden Nazario. Nazario improved to 5-2 on the season and continued to get lots of run support. Five different Hurricanes had multi hit games. Harold Martinez and Chris Herrmann each launched two run homers en route to an 11-3 victory.
Kyle Bellamy recorded his 12th save of the season. Two thirds of his saves have been for more than one inning.
The Hurricanes next game is home on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. against North Florida. That game can be heard on 90.5 FM WVUM.