RedHawks Travel To Bloomington For Midweek Game Against Indiana
4/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 20, 2004
Miami Baseball Abbreviated Midweek Release
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REDHAWKS SEEKING A BOOST IN THE MAC STANDINGS: The Miami baseball team heads to Bloomington, Ind., on Wednesday, this week for its annual showdown against the Indiana Hoosiers before returning home to McKie Field to host Akron for a Mid-American Conference series. The RedHawks remain atop the MAC East Division standings and look to improve upon their 22-11 record this week against the Hoosiers and Zips.
CURRENT MAC EAST STANDINGS: Two wins at Buffalo extended the Red and White's winning streak to 14 games against the Bulls, and more importantly upped its 2004 record to 6-1 in MAC action. With two cancelled games at Marshall and Buffalo this season, Miami is going to finish with two less league games which could be a positive factor in the percentages. Akron sits a game and a half behind the RedHawks with a 5-3 record while last year's division winner, Kent State, is third with a 6-6 league mark. Pacing the West Division with a 6-3 mark is Eastern Michigan.
Miami 13, Buffalo 4 - April 16: The RedHawks ran their league winning streak to three games with 13-4 win at Buffalo on Friday afternoon. With sophomore hurler Graham Taylor (Villa Hills, Ky./Dixie Heights) twirling a beauty on the mound, the RedHawks broke out of their offensive slump by scoring 13 runs in the final four innings of the contest. Four different Miami players notched multiple hits in the win while sophomore Geoff Orr (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) recorded his second four-RBI game of the season.
Miami 7, Buffalo 6 - April 17: Miami's pride was on the line on Saturday afternoon as it attempted to remain unbeaten against the Buffalo Bulls. Senior closer Chad Reineke (Defiance, Ohio/Ayersville) made things interesting en route to his third save, but was helped out by a clutch performance from junior designated hitter Paul Frietch (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller). Frietch went 3-for-4 in the game with three RBIs and his fifth home run of the season. Also recording his second three-hit game of the week was junior John Slone (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier).
REDHAWKS SHOWING COMPOSURE IN TIGHT GAMES: In 10 one-run games this season the RedHawks have put together a solid record of 7-3 in those contests. These are the kind of games that can make a huge difference in a team's final record at the end of the year. Miami's success in close games can probably best be attributed to the consistency from its bullpen, which has a 3.77 earned run average and his holding opponents to a .276 clip at the plate.
SCOUTING THE INDIANA HOOSIERS: The Hoosiers are coming off a huge 25-9 win over Big Ten rival Iowa to earn a four-game split with the Hawkeyes. Indiana enters the midweek contest with a 21-14 overall mark and 5-7 record in Big Ten action. The Hoosiers have not put together back-to-back wins since they had their eight-game winning streak broken on April 2 at Northwestern.
Head coach Bob Morgan is one of 26 coaches in college baseball to amass 1,000 career victories. In his 21st season with the Hoosiers, Morgan is no stranger to the MAC having graduated from Ohio University and is very familiar with the Miami coaching staff. Morgan was the coach at IU when both Tracy Smith and Scott Googins spent time with the Hoosiers.
After losing two-time All-America selection Vasili Spanos to the draft last year, the Hoosiers have replaced his offense in the form of senior Seth Bynum, who leads the team with a .402 batting average (52-of-129). Bynum also leads the team with 45 RBIs, but is closely trailed by the slugging of classmate Kevin Mahar. Mahar has a team-best 11 home runs and .718 slugging percentage to go along with a solid batting average of .368 (43-of-117).
Scheduled to start on the mound for the Hoosiers against Miami is freshman righthander Matt Saba. Saba has a knack for vulturing wins this season as he has a staff best 5-1 record in 10 appearances and only two starts. His 2.38 earned run average is third in the bullpen. The Hoosiers are planning on throwing several different arms on Wednesday, however, so the RedHawks may see a full complement of IU pitchers.
IU-MIAMI SERIES HISTORY: The last six meetings between Indiana and Miami have been split perfectly down the middle, 3-3, with all three Hoosier's wins in Bloomington, Ind., and all three RedHawks wins in Oxford, Ohio. The last time the RedHawks won at Indiana was a 12-11 victory on March 28, 1989. The all-time series stands at 34-27 in favor of Indiana.