Canes start strong but stumble at end

UM powered its way to a big early lead against Dartmouth with four home runs in the NCAA regional, but ineffective relief pitching made it interesting after a lightning delay - BY SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN
At first, the Big Green seemed small Friday at Alex Rodriguez Park.

The green and orange? Super-sized enough to take an 11-0 lead after four innings -- before a late-inning University of Miami implosion brought Dartmouth six runs and the Hurricanes down in a hurry.

The Canes still belted a season-high-tying four home runs -- three of them in the first two innings -- to walk away relieved with a 12-8 victory against Dartmouth in their opening game of the Coral Gables Regional.

``Wow,'' said an incredulous UM coach Jim Morris of the sloppy play and shaky relief pitching that allowed six Dartmouth runs to score in the eighth and ninth innings. ``I'm not sure what to say. We played so well the first five or six innings.

``We came out after the lightning delay, and it was another team on the field. You've got to play nine innings.''

No. 1 seed Miami (41-17) will meet No. 2 Texas A&M (41-19-1) at 4 p.m. Saturday.

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