May 1, 2009
Final Stats
AKRON, Ohio - The RedHawk offense continued to shine as Miami University's baseball team defeated the Akron Zips (14-29; 8-11 Mid-American Conference) 8-2 Friday afternoon at Lee Jackson Field. The pitching staff for Miami also turned in a quality performance as they held the Zips to just two runs - one earned - on 10 hits and put the team in a great position to win the game.
Miami (24-18; 12-7 MAC) jumped out to an early lead after plating three runs in the top of the first inning. Senior first baseman Tommy Nurre (Cincinnati, Ohio) provided the first run for Miami when he single to left field, scoring sophomore right fielder Adam Eaton (Springfield, Ohio). The next batter - junior designated hitter Zak Hatfield (Ft. Wayne, Ind.) - also singled and knocked in senior third baseman Jordan Petraitis (Canal Fulton, Ohio). Nurre then scored on a sacrifice fly by sophomore catcher Adam Weisenburger (Plymouth, Minn.) to give the RedHawks a 3-0 lead after one half inning.
Neither team scored again until the bottom of the fourth inning, when Akron was able to push a run across on an RBI double by Brian Kordal, making it a 3-1 game.
Miami extended its lead in the top of the fifth when Eaton launched his ninth home run of the season--a two-run shot that plated freshman center fielder Ryan Curl (Columbus, Ohio) and gave the RedHawks a 5-1 advantage.
Miami starter Matt Erwood (Atlanta, Ga.) did the rest for the RedHawks, pitching 6.2 quality innings while only allowing two runs - one earned - to score. Erwood turned things over to the bullpen in the seventh after an error and a double allowed Akron to push across an unearned run and make it a 5-2 ballgame.
The RedHawk bats continued to add some cushion to their lead, plating three more runs in the eighth inning. After senior left fielder Chris Nadeau (Saline, Mich.) reached on an error, Nurre blasted his tenth home run of the year to make it a 7-2 RedHawk lead. Later in the inning, the RedHawks would add another run when Curl reached on a fielding error that allowed sophomore shortstop Brad Gschwind (Cincinnati, Ohio) to score and extend the lead to 8-2. That would prove to be the final as RedHawk relievers would not allow another run in the final two innings and closed out the fourth-straight win for Miami.
Nurre led the RedHawks at the plate, putting in a solid 3-for-5 performance and knocking in three runs. Eaton and Nadeau also had multi-hit games for Miami.
The RedHawks and Zips continue the weekend series on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Lee Jackson Field.
