MAC Play Continues as Miami Heads to Ball State
4/6/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 6, 2012
OXFORD, Ohio -- Miami returns to Mid-American Conference play this weekend by making the short trip to Muncie Ind., to face Ball State. The RedHawks and Cardinals will meet Friday at 3 p.m., then Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.
The RedHawks (15-13, 3-3) are coming off a Wednesday night loss at home to Ohio State, 9-2. Miami managed just five hits against the Buckeyes, while using eight pitchers in the mid-week affair.
In league play, the RedHawks have split each of the first two series by 2-1 margins. After winning the opener at Eastern Michigan, they dropped two straight. Conversely, Miami lost the home opener vs. Toledo, then won back-to-back.
Ball State (5-20, 1-5) split a pair of midweek extra-inning games, winning 7-6 in 10 over Indiana Tech before falling 6-5 to Indiana in 15. The Cardinals lost two of three to Akron and were swept by Kent State in the first two league weekends.
The RedHawks have a team batting average of .303 with eight players overall hitting above the .300 mark. Honchel holds the top spot at .423, ranking 13th nationally this week. He is hitting .708 in conference play and has nine- and eight-game hitting streaks this year.
Sophomore John Crummy has been outstanding behind the plate and at it, standing third on the team in average (.361) and runs batted in (24). Fellow catcher Nate Bowles is fourth in hitting at .360, while Bryce Redeker bats .337 with a team-high three home runs and 20 RBIs.
Miami has started the same three pitchers every weekend of the season so far. Junior Mac Thoreson (3-2, 6.57) will take the hill on Friday, followed by junior Brooks Fiala (2-3, 5.97) on Saturday.
Senior left-hander Shawn Marquardt (3-3, 3.56) wraps up the weekend rotation.
As a team, Miami has a 5.15 ERA and is holding opponents to a .292 average.
