Miami Baseball Takes On Cincinnati And Toledo This Week
4/27/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 27, 2004
Miami Baseball Weekly Release
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Mid-American Conference Weekly Release
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REDHAWKS TAKE ON LOCAL RIVAL BEFORE HEADING TO TOLEDO: The Miami baseball team looks to get back on track this week with a midweek game on Wednesday against Cincinnati, and then a three-game Mid-American Conference set at Toledo over the weekend. The RedHawks were 2-2 in four games last week, but struggled defensively against Akron and as a result only hold a slim half-game lead over the Zips in the MAC standings.
CURRENT MAC EAST STANDINGS: Miami had a chance to extend its lead in the East Division but faltered against Akron and now only has a half-game over the Zips with a 7-3 mark. 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 half-game behind the RedHawks with a 7-4 mark while the next closest competitor is Kent State and its sub-.500 record of 7-8. Both Miami and Akron are playing at a West Division rival this weekend, with the Zips headed to Northern Illinois and the Red and White to Toledo.
Akron 3, Miami 2 - April 23: Three fielding errors came back to haunt the RedHawks in their series opener against Akron when a failed pickoff attempt resulted in the winning run crossing the plate and a 3-2 Zips' win. Sophomore hurler Graham Taylor (Villa Hills, Ky./Dixie Heights) went the distance for the Red and White and his second complete game of the season. Junior John Slone (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) extended his hitting streak to 12 games while classmate Sam Sellery (Carmel, Ind./Cathedral) was the only 'Hawk to leave the yard.
Miami 11, Akron 6 - April 24: The RedHawks bounced back on Saturday afternoon as eight runs in the first two innings helped them cruise to an 11-6 victory. Sophomore designated hitter Jon Franzese (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) electrified the McKie Field crowd twice in the first two frames with monster home runs, while John Slone turned in his first career five-hit game. Collecting his seventh straight win on the mound for the Red and White was freshman righty Jeff Day (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota East).
Akron 14, Miami 10 - April 25: Junior Brian Canada (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) gave the RedHawks an early boost in Sunday's game when he launched his second career grand slam in the bottom of the first inning to give his team a 5-2 lead. The grand slam also was the second of the week for Canada, who finished last week's four games with a team-best 12 RBIs. However, Canada's six RBIs against Akron ended up going to waste as the Zips scored nine runs over the final five innings to take the series with a 14-10 win. Also in the game, Slone recorded his seventh straight multi-hit game with a 3-for-4 line to extend his hitting streak to 14 games.
THE MIDWEEKER AGAINST UC HAS LOCAL IMPLICATIONS: In six games this season against its local rivals, Cincinnati, Dayton, Wright State and Xavier, the Red and White is a perfect 6-0 with a 5-0 mark at home. Miami has outscored these four opponents, 51-24, and recorded one of its 10-plus wins against this week's opponent, Cincinnati, with a 14-7 win on March 23. Head coach Tracy Smith is 6-5 all-time against the Bearcats.
SCOUTING THE TOLEDO ROCKETS: Every conference series is important down the stretch and that could not be truer this weekend for the RedHawks when they travel to Toledo for the first time since 1999. The RedHawks, who could use some MAC wins, take on a Toledo team that they are 70-48-1 against all-time and currently sits in last place of the MAC West Division with a 3-9 mark.
The last time that Toledo and Miami met on the diamond, 2000, Toledo's head coach Cory Mee was not even coaching in the conference, but was an assistant at the time at Michigan State. Mee is the 11th head coach in Toledo history and is in the middle of his first term with the Rockets.
Toledo, which just went 1-2 last weekend against Eastern Michigan, is ranked seventh in the MAC in batting and 12th in team pitching. The Rockets surged up the MAC rankings in batting average after their 18-13 win against EMU, and are currently paced by senior Shawn Hurst's .392 batting clip. Hurst is fifth in the conference in batting. Also posting solid numbers from the plate for the Rockets is senior Sean Dobson whose .381 batting clip has him ninth in the conference. Dobson paces the MAC this season with 18 doubles and has been very proficient on the base paths, stealing 12-of-17 bases.
However, it has not been batting that has been the Rocket's Achilles' heel this season but pitching, which ranks next to last in the MAC with a 6.90 earned run average. Not one of the Rockets' pitchers are ranked in the league's top 20, though Kurt Woeste's 4.78 earned-run average is not far off after nine starts. Woeste has been Toledo's workhorse in nine starts with a team-high 58.1 innings pitched. Only two Toledo pitchers have yet to allow an opponent to hit a home run, as the Rockets have allowed a MAC-high 39 home runs this season.
PROBLEMS AT HOME: Up until its series against Akron, the Miami baseball team had been near perfect at McKie Field with a 7-1 mark. The Zips, however, put an end to that dominance by taking the series, 2-1, and forcing the RedHawks to drop their first MAC series at home since Western Michigan took 3-of-4 games on March 30-April 1 during the 2001 season.
GIVING THEM THE "O" BATTING STANCE: In 37 games the Red and White is batting .322 as a team and ranked first overall in the MAC. The RedHawks also lead the conference in slugging percentage (.513), doubles (85) and home runs (50). The move up in the MAC standings to No. 1 in team offense is most likely due to Miami's .361 team batting average last week against Indiana and Akron. After slugging .604 in last week's contests, the Red and White is the only school in the MAC with a plus-.500 slugging percentage.
RANKING GONE, BUT OFFENSE JUMPS INTO THE MIX: After going 2-2 last week against Indiana and Akron the RedHawks did not receive any votes this week in the ESPN Top 25 Coaches' Poll, but their offense did gain some notoriety by batting .361 as a team. The Red and White entered this week's NCAA rankings tied for 22nd in team batting average. With a .322 batting clip as a whole, Miami is tied with Florida Atlantic, Stetson and South Carolina.
THIRD SALAMI OF THE SEASON: Despite hitting 50 home runs in 37 games as a team this season, the grand slam last Wednesday at Indiana by junior Brian Canada was just the second of its nature for Miami this season. Canada, however, gave Miami its third grand slam when he cleared the bases in the first inning against Akron to record his second career grand slam. The only other RedHawk to hit a grand slam this season was freshman backstop Dan Hayden (Cincinnati, Ohio/McNicholas) against Army during Miami's spring break trip in Bradenton, Fla.
REDHAWKS GET JUICED WITH THE BASES LOADED: Miami gets even more dangerous at the plate when the bases are loaded, posting a .517 batting average (15-29). Junior Brian Canada has recorded Miami's last two bases-loaded hits, both of which were home runs, giving Miami 15 bases-loaded hits compared to allowing opponents only 13 hits in 37 bases-loaded AB's.
FINALLY, MORE HOME GAMES AT MCKIE: Thanks in part to five cancelled games this season, the Red and White is adding contests to its schedule in an effort to reach the 56-game regular-season mark. The RedHawks have added both the Purdue Boilermakers and the Butler Bulldogs to the schedule for home dates on May 18 and 19, respectively.
PITCHERSTHE STATE OF THE PITCHING STAFF: Miami figures to have a similar look to its pitching staff and rotation this weekend at Toledo, with sophomore Graham Taylor starting game one against the Rockets. It can be expected to see freshman Jeff Day start game two, while either sophomore lefty Sam Shorts (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard East) or freshman southpaw Keith Weiser (Hamilton, Ohio/Talawanda) should get the nod for the series' finale. Weiser had been a fixture in the Red and White rotation, but sat out two starts in between his start at Rice on April 10 and his most recent appearance this weekend against Akron.
TAYLOR RETURNING TO FORM: In his first eight starts of the season sophomore southpaw Graham Taylor had only five decisions and a 2-3 record to show for it. However, in his last two outings, Taylor has notched a win over Buffalo and a tough loss against Akron, both in complete-game showings. His 2.00 earned run average against Buffalo and Akron has dropped his season ERA from 4.17 to 3.59, which is now the lowest amongst Miami's starters. His loss to Akron was particularly hard to swallow after striking out a career-high nine batters.
PUTTING HIS INHERITANCE AWAY FOR A SUNNY DAY: Senior closer Chad Reineke has been money out the bullpen this season for the RedHawks. In his last 13 relief appearances, Reineke has inherited eight baserunners and only allowed one runner to cross the plate and score. In fact, Reineke has allowed only 3-of-12 inherited baserunners to score this season, two of which crossed the plate in a doubleheader at Western Carolina on March 6.
IT'S BEAUTIFUL WHEN DAY STARTS: Seven times this season freshman righthander Jeff Day has walked onto the mound for a start, and seven times he has stepped off of it as the winning pitcher. Day is 7-0 this season as a starter for the RedHawks, posting a 4.78 earned-run average in 43.1 innings pitched. His 3.25 K-to-BB ratio (26-8) is tops among Red and White starters.
ERRORS AN ERA'S BEST FRIEND: This season the RedHawks have struggled a bit in the field committing 60 errors to their opponents' 54. Of the 214 runs that have been scored against the Red and White pitching staff, only 160 of those have been earned. This means that for every error Miami commits, an average of 0.90 unearned runs cross the plate. The opposite has been true for those playing against the RedHawks this season as only 0.46 unearned runs have crossed the dish for every opponent error committed.
BATTERSHOW THE LINEUP SHAKES UP: From top to bottom the Miami batting order has not changed much as sophomore Jason Brown (Fairfield, Ohio/Fairfield) is firmly entrenched as the squad's leadoff hitter with catcher John Slone batting in the two-hole. Junior Mike Ferris has been successful out of the third spot while roommate Sam Sellery has helped the RedHawks to an 11-5 record when batting cleanup. The next four spots in the batting order vary depending on the opposition's pitcher, but junior Courtney Campbell (Evansville, Ind./Lincoln CC) has the final spot in the order locked up with 32 starts.
SLONE GETS LOCKED IN: Junior catcher John Slone has been on a bit of a hot streak lately collecting at least one hit in each of the last 14 games for the RedHawks. He is batting .508 (31-for-61) during this stretch and is two games shy of Miami's longest hitting streak this season, sophomore Jason Brown's 16-game streak. During this 14-game stretch, Slone is pacing Miami in batting average, runs scored (16), hits (31), doubles (6), total bases (43), slugging percentage (.705) and stolen bases (8-of-11).
Slone was so impressive at the plate last week that the MAC named him the East Division Player of the Week for the second straight week, his third honor of the season. He led the RedHawks with a .667 batting average last week, raising his season clip 34 percentage points from .372 to .406. His .406 batting average is ranked 40th overall in the nation and sixth among catchers.
CINCINNATI HAS ITS NEXT BENCH?: In addition to his three MAC weekly honors this season, catcher John Slone has made the initial cut for this year's Johnny Bench National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award. The award is presented annually to the nation's top collegiate catcher as voted on by a panel of sportswriters, sportscasters, conference representatives and Division I head baseball coaches. A selection committee will review all offensive and defensive statistics through the first 2/3 of the season, and narrow the list to 10 semi-finalists by May 15.
FERRIS WHEEL STALLED AT THE TOP: On April 14 against Wright State, junior Mike Ferris demolished his 17th home run of the season over the rightfield wall at McKie Field. However, since that game, Ferris is only batting .250 (5-for-20) from the dish and has not left the park in his last 30 plate appearances. Ferris also has only recorded three RBIs and a .350 slugging percentage in the Red and White's last six contests.
Despite his recent home run slump, Ferris' 17 home runs are still tied for third in the nation, while his 0.46 home runs per game clip is third overall. Ferris also is ranked seventh in the nation with an .807 slugging percentage. The only infielder with a better slugging percentage than Ferris in the nation is Josh LeBlanc of Southern University at .859.
LEFTY VS. LEFTY NOT ALWAYS TRUE TO FORM: Most often in baseball a manager will bring in a lefthanded pitcher to throw to a lefthanded batter, but that has not been the case at all this season for junior Mike Ferris. Of Miami's three regular lefthanded batters in the lineup, Ferris is cleaning up against southpaw hurlers with a .355 batting average (11-31). In fact, only sophomore Jason Brown and junior Courtney Campbell have had more success against lefty hurlers with .375 and .389 batting averages, respectively.
FRANZESE POWERS UP THE LINEUP: Sophomore Jon Franzese lifted the Miami team to a victory at Indiana last week when he hit a two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning to start a last-inning comeback for the RedHawks. His clutch pinch hitting earned him a spot as the team's designated hitter in two-of-three games against Akron, and twice in the series he left the park with home runs. Franzese easily leads the RedHawks in home runs per at-bat this season with a 6.6 mark. For his career, Franzese has seven home runs in 52 at-bats, which is approximately one home run every 7.43 at-bats.
