Miami Hurricanes coach Jim Morris threw out the popular baseball cliche of “Johnny Wholestaff” when speaking before the game on how he planned to handle the pitching rotation.
Who knew the whole staff would become one.
Sophomore pitcher Sam Robinson allowed two hits and one earned run in 4 2/3 innings, helping the Hurricanes to a 10-3 victory against Texas A&M on Tuesday in the regional championship. UM advances to play at Florida in the Super Regional, a best-of-3 series that begins Friday at 7 p.m. The first game will be televised on ESPN.
“Sam did a great job today,” Morris said. “He was the player of the game for us.”
The game took two days to complete because it was postponed Monday in the bottom of the second because of weather. The Hurricanes led 3-2, but had no idea how the pitching situation would play out once starter Eric Whaley was removed in the third inning.
Ace Chris Hernandez, who was drafted during the game by the Boston Red Sox in the seventh round, went two innings before Morris decided to save him for this weekend if the Hurricanes won. So in the fifth he turned to Robinson, whose longest appearance had been just two innings.
“I was excited to go in because I hadn’t pitched all weekend,” said Robinson, who received a standing ovation from the 2,450 fans at Mark Light Field. “Getting this opportunity to go out there and pitch, I was really excited for it. Having the opportunity to go four-plus innings, I had never done that before. It was a great experience for me.”
Robinson walked just one and did not allow a hit until there were two outs in the ninth. By then, the Hurricanes led 10-2 with the help of Yasmani Grandal breaking from a hitting slump during the regionals.
Grandal, who was been named one of five finalists for the 2010 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award, had yet to knock in a run, but broke things open with a double off Texas A&M pitcher Barret Loux, who was selected sixth overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday, that made it 6-2 in the sixth. The next batter, Harold Martinez, grabbed his team-high third RBI on a fielder’s choice, and the Hurricanes added three runs in the seventh to set up the rematch with the Gators.
Last year, the Hurricanes were eliminated by Florida in the regionals in Gainesville. The Gators, who cruised through the opening weekend, are the tournament’s No. 3 overall seed.
“It’s two out of three for all the marbles to go to Omaha and that’s what it’s all about,” Morris said. “We’ll definitely have at least one [Florida] team in Omaha this year and hopefully, it’s the good guys.”
Shandel Richardson can be reached at
