April 10, 2010
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio - For the second straight day the Miami University baseball team received strong pitching to keep Northern Illinois' offense at bay while the RedHawks tallied four runs in the eighth inning to break a 1-1 tie and earn a 5-1 win Saturday afternoon at McKie Field at Hayden Park. Miami (14-15, 3-5 Mid-American Conference) held the Huskies (10-19, 3-5 MAC) to just one run in Friday's series opener as well, earning a 6-1 victory.
Freshman starter Brooks Fiala (Carmel, Ind.) went seven innings, allowing a season-low two hits and just an unearned run with a career-high six strikeouts while issuing just one walk in a no decision. Sophomore reliever/designated hitter Jordan Jankowski (McMurray, Pa.) earned the win (2-1), working the final two innings on the mound while allowing just an infield hit with no walks and recording five of his six outs via strikeout.
NIU's Andy Deain (1-1) took the loss, giving up four runs (two earned) on four hits in 1.1 innings of work, after taking over for starter Jeremy Gonzales, who conceded just a run on five hits in six innings of work with five punch-outs and a trio of walks.
Junior first baseman Kyle Weldon (Mason, Ohio) led Miami's offense with a 2-for-3 day while driving in three runs and scoring another. Junior right fielder Adam Eaton (Springfield, Ohio) finished 3-for-5 with two doubles and junior second baseman Jon Edgington (Cincinnati, Ohio) notched a pair of hits, including his first triple of the season, to power the 'Hawks as well.
The game was scoreless until the third inning, when the RedHawks loaded the bases and Weldon earned a walk that sent junior third baseman Brad Gschwind (Cincinnati, Ohio) across the plate for a 1-0 lead.
Both Fiala and Gonzales continued to sit batters down, including 16 straight Huskies at one point for Fiala, as the game remained 1-0 until the top of the eighth when a leadoff walk and a throwing error on a sac bunt put Huskies at second and third base with no outs. Jankowski then relieved Fiala and struck out the next two batters but an infield single by center fielder Jordin Hood evened the game at 1-1 before Jankowski recorded the third out.
Miami broke the deadlock in the bottom of the eighth however, as Edgington led off with a walk while a fielding error by Deain on a sac bunt put 'Hawks on first and second. A bunt single then loaded the bases while a single to left field by Weldon plated Edgington and sophomore pinch hitter Ryan Brenner (Kirtland, Ohio). A single by Jankowski scored another run while a throwing error by Deain allowed Weldon to scamper home to make the score 5-1.
Jankowski then returned to the mound and struck out the side in the ninth (all swinging) to lock up the RedHawks' third straight win. The teams combined for five errors while Miami out-hit NIU, 9-3-the second straight day the RedHawks have held the Huskies to just a trio of hits, which is a season low for hits allowed.
Miami goes for a series sweep Sunday at 1 p.m. at McKie Field at Hayden Park when the two sides wrap-up their three-game set.
--MURedHawks.com--
