Sophomore left-hander Eric Erickson turned in his best outing of an injury-shortened season, allowing a career-best two hits in seven innings and Miami defeated Saint Mary's 5-0 on Saturday night at Mark Light Field, the Hurricanes' third shutout in their past five games.
Erickson (7-0), who missed a month with soreness in his left forearm, struck out seven in his first appearance since a no-decision last Saturday against Virginia.
''I felt good with my health, that's the most important thing,'' Erickson said. ``I was throwing a lot of strikes.''
Reliever Kyle Bellamy picked up where Erickson left off, recording three consecutive groundouts in the eighth inning. The two combined to retire 16 consecutive Gaels batters from the third through eighth innings.
''It's great to have Eric back in the rotation,'' Miami coach Jim Morris said. ``He just pitched like Eric Erickson tonight.''
The Hurricanes (38-5) managed only six hits, but Yonder Alonso's two-run home run in the eighth inning gave the Hurricanes a five-run cushion that proved to be more than enough for closer Carlos Gutierrez to finish out the ninth inning.
Two UM errors in the frame made some of the 2,589 fans squirm, but Gutierrez was able to shut down the Gaels (22-21-1).
Coming off an outing Friday night in which UM's bullpen allowed five runs, Bellamy and Gutierrez combined to strike out three while allowing no hits or walks.
''Everybody's so consistent on this team, [the relievers] have to trip sometimes,'' Erickson said.
UM second baseman Jemile Weeks stole his 15th and 16th bases of the season, his second steal coming in front of Alonso's home run.
''[Alonso] likes having that RBI situation,'' Weeks said. ``That gets him more in the mindset of hitting.''
The Hurricanes opened the scoring in the second inning when Ryan Jackson doubled and scored on a wild pitch following a Mike DiNatale groundout that advanced him to third.
Gaels starter Alex Schmarzo walked five in four innings, giving up three runs in his third start of the season.
Reliever Scott Schneider came in and shut out the Hurricanes in the fifth and sixth innings, striking out five of the first seven batters he faced. But he gave up Alonso's home run in the eighth. Schneider finished with nine strikeouts.
The Hurricanes and Gaels conclude their weekend series at 1 p.m. Sunday. Miami returns to Atlantic Coast Conference play in a 5:30 p.m. game Friday at Virginia Tech.
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