Miami University
Louisiana-Lafayette
Baseball Splits Doubleheader with Ragin' Cajuns
2/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 27, 2010
Box Score Game 1
Box Score Game 2
LAFAYETTE, La. - The Miami University baseball team rallied in the ninth inning to tie the game and then scored two runs in the 11th inning to win game one of a doubleheader against Louisiana-Lafayette, 7-5, Saturday at ULL's Moore Field, before falling in the nightcap, 13-2. Rain Friday night postponed the scheduled series opener between the RedHawks (2-3) and Ragin' Cajuns (4-1), forcing Saturday's twin bill.
Sophomore Jordan Jankowski (McMurray, Pa.) spurred Miami to victory in game one with a two-RBI single up the middle in the 11th frame to break a 5-5 tie while also earning the win (1-0) on the mound by tossing the final three innings without allowing a hit or run and firing five strikeouts.
"Jordan did just a terrific job coming out of the bullpen. He threw some quality pitches when he needed to," head coach Dan Simonds said. "He just did a great job and he had to hit when we lost our DH because we had to make some lineup changes. He came up and got a big hit to win the game."
After Jankowski sat down the Ragin' Cajuns in order in the bottom of the 10th, junior right fielder Adam Eaton (Springfield, Ohio) was hit by a pitch to lead off the 11th and junior second baseman Jon Edgington (Cincinnati, Ohio) reached on an error. The next two RedHawks recorded outs and junior catcher Adam Weisenburger (Plymouth, Minn.) then struck out but reached on a wild pitch that got by ULL's catcher to load the bases. Jankowski followed with the go-ahead single that plated Eaton and Edgington in his first at-bat of 2010.
"It was a great hustle play by Weisenburger to beat the ball to second base after their guy made a great play on the ball," Simonds said. "It was just a really, really good hustle play to avoid the force out at second, which allowed Edgington to come around from second and score, as well."
Miami out-hit Louisiana-Lafayette 12-6 in game one led by a 3-for-4 performance from Eaton, who finished with four runs scored and three RBI, while Edgington and junior shortstop Brad Gschwind (Cincinnati, Ohio) each tallied a pair of hits. RedHawk starting hurler Tyler Melling (Bellefontaine, Ohio) went seven innings and allowed five runs on six hits while Dayton Marze (1-1) suffered the loss for the Ragin' Cajuns.
Eaton gave the 'Hawks an early 3-0 lead in game one with a three-run blast over the left field wall in the second stanza, his first round-tripper of the year, but ULL earned one back in the third. The teams traded runs in the fourth, as Eaton tripled and Edgington singled to bring him home while a sac fly from right fielder Daniel Nichols plated the Ragin' Cajuns' run to make it 4-2.
Louisiana-Lafayette then grabbed the lead in the bottom of the sixth on a three-run homer by third baseman Jordan Poirrier that put ULL up 5-4. The contest stayed a one-run game until the top of the ninth when Eaton led off with a single, advanced to second on a groundout, stole third base and then crossed home on an RBI groundout by sophomore Pat Glass (Upper St. Claire, Pa.), who came in as a sub in the eighth inning, to even the game at five and force extra innings, as Louisiana-Lafayette did not threaten in the bottom of the frame.
The nightcap of the doubleheader started off well for the RedHawks as junior first baseman Kyle Weldon (Mason, Ohio) belted his first-career home run in the first inning to put Miami up 1-0, but ULL answered with two runs in the bottom of the stanza to grab a 2-1 lead it would not relinquish. The 'Hawks would not record another hit until the sixth inning while the Ragin' Cajuns tallied a run in the second and third innings, the latter on another longball by Poirrier, to go up 4-1.
In the fourth, a double and triple by Louisiana-Lafayette plated another pair of runs to make it 6-1. Another ULL run in the sixth and three runs each in the seventh and eighth stanzas blew the game open, as Miami registered its only other run of the game on an RBI single by Weisenburger in the eighth, leading to the 13-2 final.
"They're pitcher did a pretty good job of keeping us off balance. We just could not really do anything at the plate," Simonds said of the second game. "Pitching-wise, Reece Asbury kept us in the game even though they chipped away with a run here and there but we still had some opportunities and we just didn't capitalize."
The Ragin' Cajuns out-hit the RedHawks 15-6 in the nightcap, led by three hits and three runs from Poirrier and a pair of hits and three RBI from catcher Chad Keefer, who clubbed a three-run bomb in the eighth. Four other Ragin' Cajuns also registered a pair of hits. Taylor Hubbell (1-0) earned the win on the hill for ULL, going seven innings and allowing just a run on two hits with six punchouts, while Miami starter Reece Asbury (Centerville, Ohio) suffered the loss (0-1) as he lasted 3.1 innings and surrendered five runs (four earned) on four hits with four strikeouts.
The RedHawks and Ragin' Cajuns play the deciding game of their three-game series Sunday at noon ET. Freshman Brooks Fiala (Carmel, Ind.) will take the mound for Miami while junior J.T. Geith will start for Louisiana-Lafayette. Miami will be without the services of junior outfielder Bryce Redeker (Watseka, Ill.) Sunday, as he also missed the second game Saturday with a leg injury.
--MURedHawks.com--
