April 8, 2012
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. -- Ryan Brenner had three hits and three other RedHawks added each added a pair, leading Miami to a 9-5 victory over Ball State Sunday afternoon. With the win, the RedHawks snapped a three-game losing skid and salvaged the finale of the three-game Mid-American Conference series.
Matt Honchel, Bryce Redeker and Kevin Bower had multiple-hit games as part of a 13-hit attack. Marcus Makuch hit his first home run of the season and Jacob Wolf added a two-run pinch-hit double for Makuch in the seventh.
Miami (16-15, 4-5) scored in each of the first five innings, opening a 6-2 lead. In the first, Honchel tripled in the first and came home on a Redeker sacrifice fly in the first. In the RedHawks' next at-bat, Makuch hit a 3-2 pitch over the wall in right, driving in Max Andresen who had walked.
Ball State (7-21, 3-6) countered with two in its half of the second. A leadoff single and ensuing double runners at second and third. The Cardinals broke onto the scoreboard with a sacrifice fly, then got a single for the second run.
But Miami tallied single runs in each of the next three frames. Bower singled in Brenner in the third, Brenner doubled home Scott Slappey in the fourth and Redeker scored on an Andresen groundout in the fifth.
Shawn Marquardt (4-3) retired the Cardinals in order in the same three innings before getting into trouble in the sixth. A one-out walk and three straight singles cut the lead to 6-4, then another run scored on a sacrifice fly. After issuing a walk, Joe Neff recorded a strikeout to keep Miami in the lead 6-5.
The one-run lead didn't last long as the Jacob Wolf's pinch-hit double down the right field line scored Kevin Bower and Dan Walsh. Scott Slappey, given new life after a dropped foul ball, laced a liner to left field make the score 9-5.
Nate Williams closed the game, allowing a hit and a hit batsman over the final two innings. Ball State starter Jacob Brenner (0-2) took the loss for the Cardinals.
Miami returns to action on Tuesday and Wednesday when it hosts the fourth annual Joe Nuxhall Classic. Action opens Tuesday at 3 when Cincinnati meets Wright State at McKie Field. The RedHawks host Xavier at 6:30 that night.
