May 16, 2003

Box Score

OXFORD, Ohio - The Miami University (31-21-1, 17-8 Mid-American Conference) baseball team clinched its seventh straight MAC Tournament appearance this afternoon at McKie Field at Hayden Park with an 11-4 win over visiting Akron (21-28, 11-13 MAC). Seven runs in the bottom of the eighth inning broke the 4-4 tie and lifted the RedHawks to their 10th-straight win at home against the Zips.

The Zips struck first blood in the game in the second inning with a single run to take a 1-0 lead. Dan Swallie led off with a base on balls and moved over to third base two batters later on a double by Brady Steineck. Akron took the lead when Swallie scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Tom Lindhe.

A pair of doubles in the bottom of the third inning knotted the game at 1-1 for the Red and White. Senior David Cook (Columbus, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales) rocked a one-out double to left field to put himself in scoring position. After Akron ace Frank Mendoza recorded the second out of the frame, sophomore Sam Sellery (Carmel, Ind./Cathedral) hit a bloop double down the left field line to score Cook from second base.

Akron hit another sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth inning to take a 2-1 lead and extended it to three runs, 4-1, when three crossed the plate in the seventh inning. A lead off walk and wild pitch put Jim Bonnette on second base for the Zips to open the seventh inning, and then another walk forced Miami coach Tracy Smith to resort to the bullpen. Another walk loaded the bases for the Zips and two runs came home on the next at-bat when Doug Kruthaupt ripped a single to center field to give his team a 4-1 lead. Junior Adam Keel (Fairfield, Ohio/Fairfield) allowed no further damage though as he retired Swallie with a fly out to get out of the inning.

The RedHawks responded in the bottom of the seventh stanza with three runs of their own to retie the game at 4-4. Senior Zach Schmidt (Cincinnati, Ohio/McNicholas) came through with an RBI single to start the rally and then Cook finished it with a two-run home run off Mendoza.

The eighth inning, however, is when the wheels fell off for the Akron pitching staff as it needed four pitchers to get through a seven-run Miami inning. The first six RedHawks all reached base by-way of singles and all six of those batters eventually cross the plate. Sophomore Paul Frietch (Montgomery, Ohio/Moeller), who led off the inning with a single, brought the final two runs of the game home with a double to make it an 11-4 game in favor of the Red and White.

Miami starter junior Chad Reineke (Defiance, Ohio/Ayersville) went 6.1 innings and allowed only three earned runs on four hits. Reineke did not get the decision, however, as junior Michael Gardner (Louisville, Ky./Louisville) closed out the final two innings for Miami to improve his record to 7-3.

The RedHawks and Akron lace up the spikes for a doubleheader tomorrow, May 17, starting at 1 p.m. Prior to the game, the Miami baseball team will recognize its two honorary coaches for the 2003 season, Lynn and Stephanie Darbyshire. The Darbyshire's will throw out the first pitch before the first game of the twinbill.