By any means necessary
Hurricanes find different ways to score runs
Posted: Saturday May 30, 1998 08:41 PM
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Burrell hit his 17th homer of the season to lead Miami to its opening win over Long Beach State (AP) |
OMAHA, Nebraska (AP) -- Although Miami hit 24 home runs in last week's regional tournament, slugger Pat Burrell said he'll be happy if the Hurricanes continue to stack up singles at the College World Series.
"We're just trying to put the ball in play," Burrell said. "To be honest, we're just trying to come out and get wins. If we need to bunt guys over, we can do it."
Burrell had No. 2 seeded Miami's only home run in Friday night's 3-1 victory over No. 7 Long Beach State. The Hurricanes (51-10) advanced to Sunday's second round against No. 6 Arizona State (39-22).
The Sun Devils took advantage of six Florida State errors to beat the No. 3 Seminoles 11-10. The loss sent Florida State (53-19) into an elimination game Sunday against Long Beach State (41-22-1).
The Hurricanes had hit at least two home runs in five previous games but were missing their power against Long Beach.
It won't be easier against Arizona State, which sends ace Ryan Mills (7-3, 4.32 ERA) to the mound. Like Burrell, Mills is expected to be a top pick in next week's amateur draft.
Andrew Beinbrink (28) and the Sun Devils took advantage of Florida State's six errors to score 11 runs (AP) | |
"Ryan has done a great job of blocking out a lot of distractions," said Sun Devils coach Pat Murphy. "There's a lot of pressure on these young guys. I hope to hell he can keep his composure tomorrow."
Miami coach Jim Morris said the Sun Devils showed against the Seminoles they're a World Series contender. Murphy, who said his team is an underdog for the second straight game, he declined to buy into the praise.
"We're just a bunch of junkyard dogs. We'll go right after them," Murphy said.
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