Miami Faces Final MAC West Foe of 2012
4/13/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 13, 2012
Miami faces its fourth and final MAC West opponent this season when it welcomes Northern Illinois to McKie Field this weekend. Games are slated for 6 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
The RedHawks (17-16, 4-5) have teetered around the .500 mark for the last three weeks, dropping nine of their last 15 games overall since a seven-game winning streak. On Tuesday and Wednesday, they split a pair of games to finish second in the Joe Nuxhall Classic.
Northern Illinois (8-24, 2-7) has lost four straight games, including a 22-3 setback to Illinois State on Tuesday. The Huskies were swept by Ohio by a combined score of 35-13 last weekend.
Freshman Matt Honchel, who ranked 30th in the nation in batting average entering the week, bumped his average up to .416 by earning three of Miami's nine hits in the Nuxhall Classic. He also leads the team with 15 multiple-hit games and has had nine- and eight-game hitting streaks.
Sophomore catcher John Crummy has been outstanding behind the plate and at it, standing third on the team in average (.347) and second in runs batted in (26). Junior Kevin Bower is hitting .342, while driving in a team-best 32 runs.
As a team, the RedHawks saw their average drop to .298 during the week, but they still have a one-point advantage over the opponents.
Miami has used the same pitching rotation every weekend this season, but will switch the order against Northern Illinois. Junior right-hander Brooks Fiala (2-4, 5.72), who has been the usual Saturday starter, moves to Friday, while lefty Shawn Marquardt (4-3, 4.03) also slides up a day to Saturday.
Mac Thoreson (3-3, 6.38) gets bumped down in the order from Friday to Sunday after struggling in six of his eight starts this season. Last week at Ball State, he lasted only four innings, giving up seven hits and six runs, although only two were earned.
As part of its final project, a group of athletic administration students will be running the activities for Sunday's game and have chosen the theme "Bringing Back the '90s".
This specially-themed game will include a full day of the greatest hits of the 90's, so fans can come out to McKie Field to jump back a decade. Special prizes include 50 free Buffalo Wild Wings to the person who comes dressed in the best 90s wear and 300 lucky attendees will receive free Taco Bell coupons after the third inning. Level 27 student housing will also be giving away food vouchers to a select few students who visit its table located near concessions.
New Miami Men's Basketball coach John Cooper will be throwing out the first pitch to Miami Hockey coach Enrico Blasi. Special guests who will be performing at this game include Miami students Carli Wright, who will be performing the National Anthem, and Miami Football Wide Receiver Nick Harwell who will round out the seventh inning stretch with "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
