Flurries of accusations were flying amidst the celebration of Jim Morris’ 500th win Saturday between the Hurricanes (28-8) and Florida State (26-13) in front of a capacity crowd of 6,328.
Florida State Head Coach Mike Martin charged Morris with stealing signs from the ‘Noles via walkie-talkie technology.
Martin was called with warnings by coaches Pat Murphy and Danny Hall of Arizona State and Georgia Tech, respectively, who were in attendance Saturday.
“Those guys called me on the phone and told me Miami was using the feed from the T.V. and calling pitches…I refused to believe that,” Martin said. “I’m just saying, gentlemen, it was on my walkie-talkie. I heard it, plain as day.”
Morris diplomatically rebutted the accusations by asking, “Which one of our hitters had the walkie-talkie? That’s all I want to know.”
This controversy did not extinguish the fireworks from the baseball itself, however, which produced the Hurricanes’ second win in a series that was highlighted with offensive production.
Saturday’s 7-3 win produced another game of double-digit hit totals cherry-topped with a scorching three-run home run by Gaby Sanchez in the sixth inning to give Miami its first lead of the game.
“It feels really good …to come back and beat them…it’s great and especially if the coach is getting his 500th win against Florida State, which is a rivalry game,” Sanchez said.
Cesar Carrillo improved to 6-0 with the win, in which he recorded a career-high seven strikeouts. Jim Burt, who has been on a tear as of late, entered Sunday’s game with a career high 48 RBI, 15 doubles, and seven home runs.
“We got a lot of confidence right now, and we’re clicking on all cylinders,” Burt said. “Some guys have really stepped [up] for us with the couple of injuries this past weekend. Richard Giannotti and Roger Tomas have really stepped in and done a great job for us and really come up clutch.”
Friday marked the beginning of a new chapter in the on-going rivalry between the two schools when the No. 4 Hurricanes dominated the No. 14 Seminoles in the opener.
J.D. Cockroft’s strong outing was the key in holding FSU scoreless in front of an audience of 4,621 at Mark Light Field. Allowing only three hits, Cockroft handed the ‘Noles their 12th loss of the season with a dizzying array of off-speed pitches that resulted in an eight-strikeout performance. Vince Bongiovanni closed out the game allowing no hits, no runs, and four strikeouts.
Cockroft received strong offensive support. The aggressive play of the Hurricanes produced six players with RBIs
Jon Jay was instrumental in the success of the Hurricanes by hitting safely three times in four at-bats and scoring three times.
Giannotti had the exclamation mark in the eight-run fifth inning when he connected for his first home run of the season.
Another notable in the demolition of FSU Friday was the performance of Burt, who went 2-for-4 with three RBI.
The Hurricanes took a break Sunday, losing 10-3 to the Seminoles.
Starter Brandon Camardese of the Hurricanes, who is now 4-1 on the season, struggled throughout his 2.2 innings, giving up five earned runs on 66 pitches. He cited his control as a major reason for Sunday’s disappointment.
“My command was pretty much off. My fastball was going all over the place,” Camardese said.
Although a four-game winning streak was broken Sunday, Morris was still ecstatic about his experienced group of players and also took time to recognize the unsung heroes off the bench.
“I think we’re playing pretty good defense,” Morris said. “We’re missing some key guys in our line up. The guys on the bench…those guys have taken advantage of the situation and have truly come through for us.”
Larry Nolan can be contacted at l.nolan@umiami.edu.