May 9, 2010
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio - Junior starting pitcher Tyler Melling dazzled on the mound for the Miami University baseball team and the RedHawks held off a late Kent State rally to earn a hard-fought, 5-4 victory Sunday afternoon at sunny McKie Field at Hayden Park in the rubber match of the weekend series. With the win, Miami (23-23, 10-11 Mid-American Conference) earned its first series victory over the Golden Flashes (29-21, 13-8 MAC) since a sweep of KSU in 2005, as the teams split a pair of one-run contests on Friday (10-9 Miami) and Saturday (4-3 Kent State).
Melling (Bellefontaine, Ohio) went 7.1 innings to earn the win (3-5), allowing just one run over the first seven frames before two men reached base in the eighth that would score after he exited. The junior gave up eight hits (seven singles and a double) but struck out seven Flashes and issued just one walk in his outing. Kent State starter Kyle Hallock (5-4) took the loss, surrendering five runs on seven hits with three walks and four punch-outs. Sophomore reliever Jordan Jankowski (McMurray, Pa.) garnered his eighth save of the season by tossing the final 1.1 innings without allowing a run or hit and fanning one. His eight saves tie for fourth in Miami single-season history and give him 13 for his career, which ties for third all-time among RedHawks.
Kent State held an 11-7 advantage in hits, with three of Miami's hits coming from junior second baseman Jon Edgington (Cincinnati, Ohio), who also scored a run and stole two bases. Junior center fielder Adam Eaton (Springfield, Ohio) extended his hit streak to 13 games with a leadoff single in the first and also scored a run and stole a base while sophomore right fielder Pat Glass (Upper St. Claire, Pa.) notched a pair of RBI on a double, which was the RedHawks' only extra-base hit of the game. Nine of the 10 Flashes who had an at-bat recorded at least one hit, but only two went for extra bases (both doubles).
Miami led off the bottom of the first with two singles and took a 1-0 lead when Eaton scampered home on a twin killing. The Flashes looked to get on the board in the third, leading off with two singles and advancing both runners with a deep flyout, but Melling induced a shallow fly to right field and a soft groundout to keep KSU scoreless. The 'Hawks then made it 2-0 in the bottom of the third when junior catcher Adam Weisenburger (Plymouth, Minn.) singled to left-center field, allowing Edgington to cross home.
Kent State got on the board in the top of the fourth on an RBI double by second baseman Evan Campbell that cut Miami's lead in half, but a fielding error by Campbell allowed junior shortstop Ryan Kaup (Chandler, Ariz.) to score from second base in the home half of the fifth, which again put the RedHawks up two at 3-1. Glass then belted his two-RBI double, his first two-bagger of the year, to right-center field in the sixth frame to double Miami's advantage.
In the top of the eighth, the Flashes closed the gap to one, using five hits to plate three runs. KSU looked to do even more damage in the stanza with men on second and third and two outs, but Jankowski entered in relief and forced catcher Cory Hindel to line out to left field, keeping the RedHawks on top, 5-4. Jankowski then struck out the leadoff batter in the ninth and hit a Flash in the foot but rebounded with two flyouts to lock up the win and the series for Miami.
The RedHawks return to the diamond Tuesday when they travel to the Queen City to take on local rival Cincinnati at Marge Schott Stadium, with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m.
--MURedHawks.com--
