April 30, 2006

Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Miami University baseball team completed a three-game series sweep of Bowling Green on Sunday with a 6-1 win and gained a piece of a three-way tie for second place in the Mid-American Conference's East Division. The RedHawks (21-22, 9-9 MAC) entered the weekend in fourth place but took three games from the Falcons (22-20, 9-9 MAC) and now sit in a tie with both BGSU and Ohio University for second in the division.

A two-out single by sophomore Chris Niro (Walton Hills, Ohio) staked Miami to an early lead in the top of the second inning. With freshman Jordan Petraitis (Canal Fulton, Ohio) on third after a double and a wild pitch, Niro laced Marty Baird's 1-2 offering through the middle for 1-0 Miami advantage.

Niro added to Miami's lead in the top of the fourth as his single to left brought Petraitis in to score from second for a 2-0 Miami lead. Petraitis led off the inning with a single to left and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Chris Nadeau (Saline, Mich.), before scoring on Niro's second hit of the afternoon.

Junior Dan Leonard (Canfield, Ohio) collected his third hit of the afternoon and put Miami in front 4-0 in the top of the sixth. With runners on second and third and just one out, Nadeau scored from third on a wild pitch, which was immediately followed by Leonard's line drive to right that played Niro.

Bowling Green finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth as the Falcons touched starter John Ely (Homewood, Ill.) for a trio of hits, including a two-out run-scoring single to left by Andrew Foster that made it 4-1 for Miami. Foster's single chased Ely from the game as the RedHawks summoned senior Sam Shorts (Lombard, Ill.) from the bullpen with the bases loaded. Shorts, making his 14th appearance of the year, extinguished the BGSU rally by inducing a groundball to second base that ended the inning.

A bases loaded walk to senior Jason Brown (Fairfield, Ohio) with two outs in the eighth increased Miami's lead to 5-1. With the bases still loaded, and senior Geoff Orr (Orland Park, Ill.) at the plate, BGSU reliever Tyler Johnson uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Leonard to scamper home from third with Miami's sixth run.

Shorts tossed the game's final 3.1 innings and allowed just three hits to preserve the victory for Ely, who improved to 5-2 on the season. The save was the first of the year for Shorts. Marty Baird was tagged with the loss and saw his record drop to 2-1.

Miami returns to action next weekend when it hosts a three game series versus Buffalo on May 5-6. The RedHawks and Bulls will play a doubleheader on Friday and a single game on Saturday due to graduation ceremonies on campus.

NOTES: JR Dan Leonard went 4-for-5 ... Miami outhit Bowling Green 12-7 ... the RedHawks stranded 12 runners in the game.