April 27, 2008
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio - Miami University's baseball team's bats exploded as the RedHawks defeated Bowling Green, 13-4, in the rubber match of a three game series against the Falcons in Mid-American Conference play Sunday afternoon at McKie Field at Hayden Park. Holding a 3-2 lead, the RedHawks scored four runs in the fifth inning and five runs in the sixth inning to cruise to its sixth conference victory.
Bowling Green (20-18; 7-8 MAC) jumped on the board in the first inning courtesy of a lead-off single. Ryan Shay singled through the left side on a zero balls, two strikes count to lead things off. After freshman Tyler Melling struck out the next batter, Shay stole second base and then advanced to third base on a throwing error. Two batters later, a single scored Shay giving the Falcons a 1-0 edge.
Miami (15-27; 6-12 MAC) came back with a run of its own in the second inning to tie the game at 2-2. Junior Tommy Nurre started the frame with a double to left field, before moving to third base on a sacrifice bunt. With Nurre on third base and one out, freshman Brad Gschwind hit a sacrifice fly to center field allowing Nurre to score and tie the game at 1-1.
After the Falcons jumped back on top with a run in the third inning, Miami took its first lead of the game by scoring two runs in the bottom of the third inning. After working a full count, freshman Jon Edgington drew a walk, placing the lead-off runner on first base. A sacrifice bunt moved Edgington up a base with the top of the order coming to the plate. Freshman Adam Eaton drove in Edgington and moved himself into scoring position with a triple into left-center field. Eaton's triple brought junior Jordan Petraitis to the dish and with a zero balls, two strikes count, Petraitis drove in his team-leading 35th run of the season with a ground out to second base that plated Eaton and moved the RedHawks ahead by a score of 3-2.
Miami scored four runs on three hits in the fifth inning extending its lead to 7-2. With one out, sophomore Ben Eubank and Eaton were hit by a pitch in consecutive at-bats, placing runners on first and second base. Petraitis came through again with a double to right field that scored Eubank and moved Eaton from first to third base. Junior Chris Nadeau brought in Eaton and Petraitis with a double to right field, pushing the RedHawk lead to 6-2. Nurre singled to the shortstop and senior Evan Armitage walked to load the bases for Gschwind and for the second time in the game, Gschwind drove in Nurre on a sacrifice fly, which upped Miami's cushion to 7-2.
Bowling Green closed within three runs after scoring two runs in the sixth, but Miami quickly tacked on five insurance runs in its half of the sixth inning to expand its lead to 12-4. The highlight of the inning was a two-run double by Nurre, while freshman John Hornke also delivered a RBI sacrifice fly in the inning.
Miami tacked on one more run in the ninth inning and sophomore Jamaal Hollis retired the Falcons in order in the ninth to secure the 13-4 win.
Nurre went 3-for-3 from the plate with two RBIs, while Gschwind led the RedHawks with three RBIs. Petraitis and Eaton added two hits apiece for the Red and White.
Melling (1-2) earned his first career win after going 5.1 innings and striking out three batters. Also, freshman Kyle Weldon singled in the eighth inning earning his first career hit for Miami.
The RedHawks play a home and home mid-week series against Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday, April 29 and Wednesday, April 30. Miami plays at Eastern Kentucky at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, before returning home on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
