Home 2008 Season Coverage2008 NCAA Tourney Super Regional Preview: Arizona at Miami (FL)

Super Regional Preview: Arizona at Miami (FL)

by Brian Foley
1 comment

The Arizona Wildcats will head across the country to take on the Miami (FL) Hurricanes in a Super Regional series in Coral Gables FL. The Wildcats enter the weekend with a 41-17 record and a 12-12 record in the highly competitive PAC-10 conference. The Hurricanes have a 50-8 record while going 23-5 in the ACC.

The Arizona Wildcats are led by two strong relief pitchers in Ryan Perry and Daniel Schlereth who were both selected in the first round of the MLB draft. Perry was the 21st overall selection by the Detroit Tigers while his teammate Daniel Schlereth was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks with the 26th overall selection. The top hitter for the Wildcats is C.J. Ziegler who is hitting .350 on the year with 19 homers and 58 RBI. Bryce Ortega has had a solid year as he finished second on the team in average at .341 with 12 stolen bases. T.J. Steele leads the team in stolen bases with 24 on the year in 26 attempts. The Wildcats top starting pitcher is David Coulon who went 8-3 with a 3.54 ERA in 15 starts. Preston Guilmet had the second best year but was the number 1 starter during the season with a 6-4 record and an ERA of 4.29. The third starter is Eric Berger who has an 8-3 record with a 4.43 ERA. Perry is the weakest out of the top three relief pitchers with a 6-3 record and an ERA of 3.07 ERA in 29 appearances. Daniel Schlereth (son of former NFL player Mark Schlereth) has been the stopper out of the Arizona pen as he has a 2-0 record with a 1.81 ERA. Jason Stoffel has been a rock as the closer with a 3-2 record and an ERA of 3.25 with 13 saves.

The Miami Hurricanes enter the weekend after an exciting Thursday for two Hurricanes position players in Yonder Alonso and Jemile Weeks. Miami pitcher Carlos Gutierrez was also was picked in the first round. The Hurricanes offense hits at a .328 average as a team with Ryan Jackson leading the team with a .374 average. Blake Tekotte is right behind Jackson with a .371 average with eleven homers on the year out of the leadoff spot. Yonder Alonso who was the 7th overall pick in the 2008 MLB draft is hitting with a .370 average including 21 homers and 66 RBI. Jemile Weeks who was the 12th overall selection by the Oakland A’s is hitting .366 with 11 homers and 57 RBI while slugging .639. The Hurricanes have one of the best pitching staffs in the country left led by freshman sensation Chris Hernandez who is 11-0 with a 2.55 ERA. Eric Erickson was the number 1 starter on the year and had a solid campaign where he went 8-1 record with a 4.13 ERA. Enrique Garcia is the other starter on the staff with a 6-2 record and 4.80 ERA. Carlos Gutierrez leads the back end of the bullpen with a 5-2 with a 2.70 ERA including twelve saves.

I think the Hurricanes continue to roll with their strong hitting and the Wildcats starting pitchers might not be able to stop the powerful offense.

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1 comment

WildCatFan June 6, 2008 - 11:55 am

I think your comment about Perry being the weakest makes it sounds like he isn’t that good or not in the same league as the others. I would disagree with that comment. If you’re comparing what they did out of the pen then you should compare his numbers out of the pen. Here are his numbers as a starter and reliefer:

Starting Numbers – 1-2, 5.70 ERA, 23 2/3 IP, 28 H, 18 R, 15 ER, 5 BB, 25 K, .283 Opp BA

Relief Numbers – 5-1, 1.74 ERA, 46 2/3 IP, 29 H, 11 R, 9 ER, 12 BB, 44 K, .179 Opp BA

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