FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
Ryan Jackson
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami baseball team closed out its Second Annual Orange-Green Fall World Series Monday at Mark Light Field, with the Orange team picking up a 5-2 victory over the Green in the winner-takes-all series finale.
In Monday afternoon’s title game, the Orange team took an early 1-0 lead in the first and never looked back, clinching the series win for the second straight season. David Gutierrez earned the victory and Kevin Youst picked up the save, but newcomer Nathan Melendres had the biggest day for the Orange squad, going 3-for-4 with a pair of triples, a stolen base, two RBI and two runs scored.
The Green won the first game of the series on Nov. 12, 5-2. Taylor Wulf started for the Green team and allowed just two hits while striking out five in four innings of work. Sam Robinson, who pitched a scoreless sixth, earned the win while Kyle Bellamy picked up the save. Chris Herrmann led the way offensively in the series-opening win, going 2-for-3 with an RBI.
In the second game on Nov. 14, the two teams played to a 4-4 tie. John Housey struck out six in four innings of work for the Orange squad while Ryan Perry led the team at the plate, belting a two-out, three-run home run in the top of the seventh to give the Orange team a 4-2 lead. An inning earlier, Scott Lawson hit a solo homer for the Green team to put them up by one in the sixth before Perry’s homer turned the momentum.
The Green team’s top hitters on the series were three newcomers – Herrmann, Ted Blackman and Scott Lawson. Herrmann had a series-high five hits, Blackman went 2-for-6 but added a series-high four walks, while Lawson hit .308 (4-for-13).
Ryan Jackson, Perry and Melendres combined to go 10-for-29 for the Green squad. Jackson hit .400 (4-for-10), Perry had a series-high four RBI and Melendres had a series-high two steals.
The top pitchers on the series were Housey, who tossed four scoreless innings, Wulf and Gutierrez, who both allowed just one earned run in seven innings of work.
This year’s Orange-Green Fall World Series marked the second time the Hurricanes have held the best-of-three fall series under UM head coach Jim Morris. Last fall, after dropping the first game of the inaugural series, the Orange team rallied to win two straight games to take the series.
The Hurricanes will now close out their 2008 fall season with the team’s Pro Scout day on Saturday, Nov. 22 at Mark Light Field.
