TODAY’S GAME
CORAL GABLES — As it relates to baseball, Miami and Florida International have a chilly relationship. Despite the fact they are separated by less than 10 miles, the schools stopped playing each other in 2008. It’s no secret that their coaches, UM’s Jim Morris and FIU’s Turtle Thomas, simply do not like each other.
So, the pairing of the Hurricanes and Panthers to open the Coral Gables regional Friday night had the potential to produce fireworks.
And while fans were hot, chanting and shouting at each other both outside and inside the park, the game fizzled quickly.
Taking advantage of FIU’s jittery bats and shaky gloves, Miami scored all its runs in the first t wo innings and cruised to a 6-2 win in front of a rowdy sellout crowd of 4,816.
Before discussing his team, which has won 15 of 16 games, Morris praised the fans. It was UM’s first sellout since March 3, 2012 against Florida.
“First, I want to talk about the crowd,” he said. “A great crowd. I don’t remember the last time we closed the gates. We looked down the lines and it was full.” Miami vs. Co olumbia, 7 p.m.
The Hurricanes (45-14), looking for their first trip to the College World Series since 2008, advance to play Columbia (32-15), the Ivy League champion, at 7 tonight. The Lions scored five runs in the sixth inning for a come- from- behind win over American Athletic Conference champ East Carolina (40-
FIU (29-30) will play ECU in an elimination game at 1.
UM junior third baseman David Thompson, the nation’s RBIs leader (83), hit a t wo-run double in the first inning and an RBI single in the second.
It was awesome,” said Thompson, who went 3-for-4. It was such a fun game. So loud out there. Hasn’t been that loud once since I’ve been here.”
Thompson, also the nation’s co-leader in homers (19), upped his average to .342. He is tied for fourth on UM’s single-season RBI list, with Mike Fiore (1988), and is within reach of Darren Mandel’s 88 (1984), Jason Michaels’ 89 (1997) and Aubrey Huff ’s 95 (1998).
UM scored the game’s
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