Miami Ohio University Athletics
Rivalry Series on Tap this Weekend in Athens
5/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Complete Release in PDF Format 
May 8, 2008
REDHAWKS TRAVEL TO ATHENS FOR MAC SERIES WITH THE BOBCATS: Miami returns to the diamond on Friday, May 9, when the RedHawks travel to Athens for a Mid-American Conference series against Ohio University. Miami and Ohio play the opener of the three-game set at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 9, before playing Saturday's game at 3 p.m. and Sunday's game at 1 p.m.
ABOUT THE BOBCATS: Ohio won both of its mid-week contests this week after dropping seven straight decisions. The Bobcats currently sit in fourth place in the Mid-American Conference East Division, two games back of Akron for third place. Brandon Besl leads the team with a .379 batting average, while Matt Stiffler owns a team-best 13 home runs and 47 RBIs. Ohio is scoring just under 7.50 runs per game this season as the team posts a .309 batting average. On the mound, Zach Elmer is the Bobcats' top hurler with a 3.21 ERA in 56.0 innings. Chris Rigo and Matt Smith are tied for the team lead with four wins apiece, but Rigo is the strikeout leader with 62 punch outs this season.
THE SERIES WITH OHIO: The Bobcats lead the all-time series 115-93-1 over the RedHawks, including a 60-37 mark when playing in Athens. Last season, Ohio took two-of-three games from Miami in Athens and that was the first series that the Bobcats had won over Miami since 2001.
NURRE MAKES IT FOURTEEN: With hits in all three games versus Akron this past weekend, junior Tommy Nurre extended his hitting streak to 14 games. During that stretch, Nurre is batting .466 with 10 doubles, one home run and 15 RBIs. Nurre also boasts a slugging percentage of .690 and an on-base percentage of .535 during that time frame. Nine conference games are included in Miami's last 14 contests and the Cincinnati native has been even more impressive in those games. In three games at Buffalo, three games versus Bowling Green and three games versus Akron, Nurre is batting .500 (19-for-38). In Miami's last three conference series, Nurre has recorded nine two-baggers, scored 12 runs and driven in 10 runs. Nurre's slugging percentage over that period is .816, while his on-base percentage is .565. Nurre's 14 game hitting streak matches junior Jordan Petraitis for the longest hitting streak of any RedHawk this season.
ONE-TWO PUNCH: Over the past three conference weekends, juniors Tommy Nurre and Jordan Petraitis have been swinging hot bats for the RedHawks. Nurre is batting .500, while Petraitis is hitting .361. The two are also leading the Mid-American Conference in three statistical categories, while ranking among the top six in several other categories. Nurre is first in MAC-only play in batting average and doubles, third in on-base percentage, fifth in slugging percentage and hits and sixth in total bases. Petraitis ranks first in conference-only contests in triples, second in on-base percentage, fourth in walks and 14th in batting average.
HULA DELIVERS IN WIN: Junior Josh Hula was a integral piece of Miami's 8-7 win over Akron on Sunday, May 4. Hula went 3-for-4 from the plate with two RBIs, including his first home run of the season. It was also Hula's first home run since April 21, 2007.
WHAT A WEEK FOR WELDON: Freshman Kyle Weldon earned the first start of his career against Eastern Kentucky and did not disappoint. Weldon went 3-for-5 from the plate with four RBIs. Over the weekend, Weldon saw action in all three games and came through going a combined 2-for-5 in all three contests with three RBIs. Since earning his first start, Weldon has seven RBIs, which is the most of any RedHawk.
MOVING UP THE CHARTS: Juniors Tommy Nurre and Jordan Petraitis have both had career years this season and both players moved onto the Miami single-season charts this week. Nurre and Petraitis both have 18 doubles this season, moving both players into a tie for fourth place on the single-season doubles list. The most doubles hit by a RedHawk in a single season was 21 by Keith O'Hea in 1988. Petraitis also moved into ninth place on the career doubles list as he hit the 40th double of his career on Sunday versus Akron.
CAREER AVERAGES AGAINST OHIO: 10 RedHawks players have atleast had one at-bat against the Bobcats, while senior Evan Armitage has had the most success going 11-for-29 in eight games. On the mound, the RedHawks have three pitchers that have pitched against Ohio and they own a combined ERA of 4.46.
No. Name Avg. HR RBI H AB GP 6 Evan Armitage .379 0 6 11 29 8 8 Blake Chaffee .375 0 5 3 8 2 20 Eric Darlage .250 0 0 4 16 5 10 Chris Nadeau .200 0 2 4 20 6 17 Josh Hula .143 0 0 1 7 2 7 Jordan Petraitis .136 1 3 3 22 6 31 Tommy Nurre .000 0 0 0 2 1 16 J.D. Mynhier .000 0 0 0 4 1 13 Ben Eubank .000 0 0 0 1 1 11 Nate Halm .000 0 0 0 1 1 ERA W-L IP K 19 Jamaal Hollis 0.00 0-0 1.0 0 30 Matt Erwood 3.00 0-0 3.0 4 28 Bobby Oberschlake 6.00 0-0 6.1 2
