April 15, 2006
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio - The Miami RedHawks baseball team used "small ball" and great pitching to knock off the Northern Illinois Huskies, 3-1, in the second game of a three-game set at Hayden Park. Senior lefthander Graham Taylor (Villa Hills, Ky.) spun one of his best games of the season, holding NIU to just six baserunners in 7-plus innings of work, while three different players drove in runs for Miami.
After two scoreless innings, it was an unbelievable defensive play by Miami second baseman Geoff Orr (Orland Park, Ill.) with two runners on in the top of the third that gave Miami the spark it needed to get things rolling. With one out in the inning, NIU's Bobby Stevens ripped a groundball toward the hole between first and second but Orr dove into shallow right and snagged it before throwing to first from his knees to retire the batter.
Capitalizing on Orr's scintillating defense in the previous half inning, the RedHawks took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third when junior Brandon Hillier (Hinsdale, Ill.) roped a double to right that scored classmate Ryne Robinson (Toledo, Ohio) from third. Robinson singled to lead off the inning and advanced to third after a stolen base and a fly ball to right.
A two-out RBI single by NIU's Kyle Pettengell off Miami starting pitcher Graham Taylor (Villa Hills, Ky.) evened the score, 1-1, in the top half of the fourth inning.
Miami regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth on freshman Chris Nadeau's (Saline, Mich.) run-scoring single to left center. With Jordan Petraitis (Canal Fulton, Ohio) on second Nadeau laced a line drive that made it 2-1 for the RedHawks.
Orr came in to give Miami a 3-1 lead after he doubled to lead off the sixth inning and scored two batters later on a fielder's choice groundball by pinch-hitter Evan Armitage (Milford, Ohio).
From there it continued to be the Graham Taylor show as he retired the next four consecutive batters before giving up a walk to NIU's Bobby Stevens, his only free pass of the game. After getting the next batter on a groundball to the first baseman, Taylor was relieved with two outs in the eighth by Matt Long (Granville, OH/Granville). Long pitched the final 1.1 innings not allowing a base runner to secure his third save of the year.
For Taylor (3-4), it was his third win of the season. He was named the Coldwell Banker Player of the Game for striking out five and scattering five hits over 7.2 innings.
The RedHawks (16-16, 6-5 MAC), who reached .500 for the first time since March 3 and are winners of seven of their last eight, go for the three-game sweep of Northern Illinois tomorrow at Hayden Park. First pitch is at 1 p.m.
NOTES: JR Ryne Robinson stole the 60th base of his career, which ranks him sixth all-time at Miami ... the RedHawks have won seven of their last eight games, including five straight in the MAC.
