May 22, 2002
Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - After bringing the Mid-American Conference baseball tournament to Bowling Green with a win against Kent State last weekend, the Miami University (30-27) baseball team dropped its first-round contest to the hosts 18-6. Freshman Sam Sellery (Carmel, Ind./Cathedral) belted his fifth dinger of the season while classmate Tyler Tabler (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller) recorded his first career strike out from the mound.
The RedHawks struck first with two runs in the second inning off three hits. Starting the two-run rally with a double to left field was freshman Paul Frietch (Montgomery, Ohio/Moeller). Sophomore Ryan Edginton (Chester Springs, Pa./Arizona State) singled up the middle to move Frietch over the third. Frietch scored Miami's first run on a wild pitch that got past BGSU's catcher, and Edginton advanced to second. The wild pitch allowed Edginton to score when junior Andi Scheidt (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) ripped an RBI single through the left side.
Facing a 2-0 deficit and Red and White senior hurler Russ Bayer (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) the Falcons notched three runs in the third frame to take a 3-2 lead. Nine-hole hitter Kevin Longstreth led off with a double to right-center field, and scored the Falcons first run when David Barkholz knocked a single through the right side. Bayer got the next Bowling Green batter to ground out unassisted to first base, but Corey Loomis tagged the right-hander for a two-run home run on the next BGSU at-bat.
A solo home run by Nick Elrod in the fourth and a two-run double off the bat of Kelly Hunt in the fifth gave the Falcons a 6-2 advantage.
Miami mounted a comeback in the sixth inning by scoring three runs to knot the game at 6-6. Freshman Brian Canada (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) opened the frame with a single through the right side, and was followed by a single from junior David Cook (Columbus, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales). Sellery did the rest from there by blasting a three-run home run over the left-center field wall.
A single run in the seventh frame gave the RedHawks their second lead of the ball game 7-6. Canada registered the RBI when he hit a flyball deep enough to center field to sacrifice Edginton home from third base.
Bowling Green took the lead for good 10-6, however, with a grand slam in the bottom of the seventh stanza. With runners on first and second Bayer intentionally walked the MAC Player of the Year Hunt to face Andy Hudak. Hudak made the RedHawks pay for the walk by clearing the bases with a blast over the left-field wall.
The top-seeded Falcons added five more insurance runs in the eighth inning to take the 15-6 victory. BGSU starter Kyle Knoblauch worked all nine innings to improve to 7-1. Credited with the loss to drop to 7-4 on the season was Bayer, while Tabler recorded the last out of the eighth inning with his first career strike out.
The RedHawks play their second-round game tomorrow, Thursday, May 23 against the loser of this afternoon's contest between No. 2 Eastern Michigan and No. 5 Central Michigan at 10 a.m.
