Miami Welcomes Ohio State to Oxford Wednesday Night
4/3/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 3, 2012
A year after resuming the baseball series with Ohio State, Miami welcomes the Buckeyes to Oxford for the first time since 1991 for a Wednesday night contest. First pitch on Military Appreciation Day is slated for 6:30 p.m.
Last year, Miami traveled north to Columbus and came away with a 12-4 victory.
The RedHawks (15-12) rallied from a series-opening loss to Toledo with victories in the final two games Saturday and Sunday. Freshman outfielder Matt Honchel was on fire during the weekend, registering 11 hits in 14 at-bats, including three doubles. Senior Shawn Marquardt solidified the series with with his third complete game of the season in the finale, an 11-3 RedHawk victory.
Ohio State (14-12) dropped two of three at Michigan State in a series that was pushed back to Saturday to Monday by weather. The Buckeyes won the opener 1-0, but lost the next two 2-1 and 10-5.
OSU is 3-1 against the MAC this year, while Miami is 1-1 vs. the Big 10.
The RedHawks have a team batting average of .307 with eight players overall hitting above the .300 mark. Honchel holds the top spot at .436, which ranks him 13th nationally. He is hitting .708 in conference play and is on an eight-game hitting streak.
Sophomore John Crummy has been outstanding behind the plate and at it, standing second on the team in average (.375) and runs batted in (24). Fellow catcher Nate Bowles is third in hitting at .360, while Bryce Redeker bats .340 with a team-high three home runs and 19 RBIs.
On the mound, sophomore Charles Zubrod will open on Wednesday, but several other Miami hurlers are slated for the mound. Zubrod suffered a hard-luck loss on Saturday, giving up one run in 4.0 innings pitched. Overall, he stands 1-2 with a team-best 2.28 ERA.
As a team, Miami has a 5.04 ERA and is holding opponents to a .290 average.
