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Forces of nature Hurricanes sweep away Cardinal for fourth national title
Updated: Sunday June 17, 2001 9:15 AM
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Danny Matienzo had been practicing the celebration pileup with a few Miami teammates before the College World Series championship game. And after helping lead the Hurricanes to their second national title in three years, he decided there was nothing like the real thing. "To be able to jump around with the whole team, it's amazing," Matienzo said after Miami routed Stanford 12-1 on Saturday. "It's incredible when you're focused and when a team is together as one, what you can achieve," the Hurricanes' sophomore designated hitter added. "You can practically do anything. And what we did this year was amazing." Kevin Brown hit a home run and had five RBIs, and Kevin Mannix drove in three runs for the Hurricanes (53-12), who won their fourth national title, the others coming in 1982, 1985 and 1999. "It's unbelievable," Miami head coach Jim Morris said. "It was a total team effort. We pitched great, played flawless defense and we swung the bats. You could never ask for any more than the way we played that game." Miami ended the season with a 17-game winning streak and became the 18th team to go undefeated in the College World Series.
"It seems like we're on a cloud right now," said Brown, who helped Miami win in 1999. "The first one was sweet, but getting this one was amazing." The Hurricanes capitalized on Matienzo's fly ball to right that was lost in the sun and fell for an RBI double, sparking a four-run third inning. Tom Farmer (15-2), Luke DeBold and Alex Prendes combined to hold the Cardinal to five hits. The loss stopped a four-game winning streak for Stanford (51-17), which also lost in last year's championship game to LSU. "Obviously, we're disappointed because we didn't give them much of a game," Stanford coach Mark Marquess said. "They were the better team. And as they have the entire College World Series, they kind of exploded on us and we could get nothing going." With runners on first and second and one out, Matienzo lifted a ball into right that Carlos Quentin appeared to settle under. But Quentin, not wearing sunglasses, threw his hands up to indicate he couldn't see the ball. It bounced about 20 feet behind him, allowing Javy Rodriguez to score. "I thought he was camped under it," Matienzo said. "I didn't think it was hit that deep, but then I saw him waving his arms and knew he didn't have a chance at the ball. I started screaming at Javy because I kind of caught up to him, and he was just hanging around so I yelled, 'Run! Run! Run!' "And from there, we just kept it going and stayed hot." Quentin said he first thought that the ball was going to land between him and second baseman Chris O'Riordan. "I didn't expect it could go over my head, but at the last minute, Chris pointed back and I turned around and saw it land." Stanford starter Mike Gosling (7-3) then walked Kevin Howard, and Mannix followed with a bases-clearing double down the right-field line to make it 4-0. The Hurricanes added five more runs in the fifth. "I never felt that great, even in the first two innings when I put up two zeros," Gosling said. "I never felt as if I got into a rhythm."
Javy Rodriguez hit a leadoff double, and Matienzo and Howard hit consecutive singles to make it 5-0. Jeff Bruksch came on and got one out before Brown hit a three-run homer. Kris Clute singled and Greg Lovelady reached on shortstop Scott Dragicevich's error before Mike Wodnicki came in. Charlton Jimerson hit an infield single to load the bases, and Mike Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly to make it 9-0. Gosling allowed seven runs and seven hits in four innings, while Bruksch gave up two runs -- one earned -- in two-thirds of an inning. The Cardinal scored their lone run in the sixth when Arik VanZandt walked, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Sam Fuld's bunt single. Brown, who had 10 RBIs in the College World Series, added two more in the sixth on a double. Fuld saved an extra-base hit in center field, but the ball dropped out of his glove when he hit the wall and two runs scored to make it 11-1. The Hurricanes added another run in the eighth on Jim Burt's single that Quentin overran. Farmer allowed one run and four hits in 5 2/3 innings, DeBold gave up one hit in 2 1/3 relief innings, and Prendes pitched a perfect ninth for Miami. "The key today for me was staying relaxed out there," Farmer said. "I had to find out what the strike zone was and establish it. And I was able to do that." Jimerson hit .333 with two homers, two RBIs and seven stolen bases to go along with a few outstanding defensive plays in center field to win the Most Outstanding Player award. Stanford won national championships in 1987 and '88. This was the first time the teams played since Stanford beat Miami 15-7 in a 1991 regional.
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