After Six... UM still clinging to a 1-0 lead
By Adam Aizer - February 09, 2007
We've seen a lot of off-speed pitches and breaking balls tonight, but Miami Head Coach Jim Morris just threw the biggest curve ball of the game.
This was Scott Maine's line after five innings: 5IP, 2H, 0R, BB, 5Ks, 73 pitches.
It turns out that will be his final line. Morris has removed Maine to start the sixth inning in a 1-0 game and replaced him with stud freshman Eric Erickson (sweet name).
From up here in the press box, Maine did not appear injured and he certainly was pitching well enough to stay in, but I think Morris is making a big effort to limit his staff's pitch count early in the season. In fact, no starter has made it past the fifth inning in any of UM's first three games this year.
The first two UM games saw Miami's bullpen implode and blow the game. So what does Erickson do as he makes his first appearance of the season?
Immediately gives up a gapper into right centerfield for a leadoff double to Tim Stewart, then walks Mickey Weisser.
UCLA is set up for a big inning. First and second. Nobody out. Here comes Brandon Crawford. Crawford bunts... makes sense. Second and third. One out for Gabe Cohen. A pretty big spot for the freshman UM pitcher, and he strikes Cohen out swinging.
Two outs.
The DH Casey Haerther is due up, and he's 0-2 today. So Coach Savage pinch hits with the switch hitter Will Penniall, and Penniall flies out to left field. Another big chance. Another zero on the scoreboard. And still no runs for UCLA.
But don't worry. The Bruins still have Brummett on the hill, and he escapes a two-on, one out jam to keep Miami off the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth. Here's your line so far after six innings.
UCLA: 0 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors
Miami: 1 run, 3 hits, 1 error
Brummett has reached the 100 pitch count, and Maine is already out of the game. Expect maybe one more inning from Brummett, but the bullpen is getting warmed up and he might be done for the evening. It's gonna come down to relief pitching tonight. Great game so far if you're a true baseball fan.
One last thing - Eric Erickson is nasty. As I wrote this blog entry, Erickson worked a scoreless top of the seventh, which included his second strikeout in as many innings. My prediction is he'll be in UM's rotation by the end of the season, more likely by the middle of the season.
Posted by Adam Aizer at 09:11 PM on February 09, 2007
Comments (2)
Comments
Great article
I hope everybody read this article
Comment by forex - February 10, 2007 07:55 AM
Good news
thank you for infos
Comment by oyun - March 12, 2007 07:36 AM