MU Travels South For Weekend Tournament
2/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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Miami RedHawks (0-2, 0-0 MAC)
Games 3-5 | Spartanburg, S.C.
Friday, Feb. 20 – USC Upstate (2 p.m.)
ABOUT USC UPSTATE (1-2, 0-0 Atlantic Sun): The Spartans hosted Dayton, Boston College and Army last weekend, losing the latter two by slim margins. The team scored 24 runs on the weekend while allowing 20. Four Spartans have a batting average of .333 or better. Last season, the Spartans finished 17-38 overall and 6-20 in their conference, placing them in ninth place in their conference come season’s end. They did not qualify for the conference tournament.
SERIES HISTORY: The Spartans and RedHawks have not met previously.
Saturday, Feb. 21 - UNC-Asheville (12 p.m.)
ABOUT UNC-ASHEVILLE (0-3, 0-0 Big South): The Bulldogs come into the game after getting swept by the Bobcats of Ohio University. The Bulldogs allowed 40 runs in those three games while scoring 24. The team features four batters hitting .417 or better and a .309 team batting average. Asheville went just 13-40 last season, including 4-22 in conference play. They did not qualify for their conference tournament.
SERIES HISTORY: The Bulldogs and the RedHawks have never met before.
Saturday, Feb 21 – Wofford (4 p.m.)
ABOUT WOFFORD (3-0, 0-0 Southern): The Terriers are coming off a weekend in which they had great success, sweeping their weekend matchups. They hosted Boston College, Xavier and Dayton. The Terriers scored 28 runs on the weekend while allowing 14. The team boasts eight hitters batting .308 or better, including two players hitting .571 or higher. Last season, they went 32-28, including 22-14 at home. In the Southern Conference Tournament, the Terriers were defeated by Samford in the semifinals
SERIES HISTORY: The Terriers and RedHawks have not met prior.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday vs. USC Upstate
| Team | Player | W-L | ERA | G-GS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Miami | Brad Schwartz (So. RHP) | 0-0 | 0.00 | 1-0 | 1.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| USC Upstate | Richie Lacell (So. RHP) | 0-0 | 15.00 | 1-1 | 3.0 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 5 |
Saturday vs. UNC-Asheville
| Team | Player | W-L | ERA | G-GS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Miami | Ryan Powers (Sr. RHP) | 0-1 | 15.00 | 1-1 | 3.0 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 |
| UNC-Asheville | TBA | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Saturday vs. Wofford
| Team | Player | W-L | ERA | G-GS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Miami | Jacob Banks (So. RHP) | 0-1 | 6.23 | 1-1 | 4.1 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| Wofford | Luke Leftwich (Jr. RHP) | 1-0 | 5.40 | 1-1 | 5.0 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 |
POWER UP: Senior Ryan Powers looks to continue his stride after his breakout season during the 2014 campaign. The 6-foot-5 right-handed pitcher appeared in 16 games, starting 13. He finished with a 9-3 record and a 4.25 ERA on the way to claiming Second-Team All-MAC Honors. As if that wasn’t enough, Powers was one of two RedHawks who had his name called in the 2014 MLB Draft. The righty was selected in the 22nd round (652 overall) by the Philadelphia Phillies.
SADA’S SUCCESS: Steve Sada certainly had a freshman year to remember last season and the second year player will look to be slotted in as the team’s starting second baseman once again. Sada hit .309 while recording a .391 on-base percentage and drew a team-best 24 walks. Like Powers, Sada earned Second-Team All-MAC honors. In addition, he was tabbed a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American.
HONCHEL RISING: With three hits last weekend, senior Matt Honchel now has 228 career hits, launching him from 10th all-time to eigth all-time. He passed Geoff Orr (226) and DJ Eckhart (227). In addition, with a career batting average of .350, Honchel is tied for seventh all-time in Miami history.
NEW FACES: The bullpen saw four new faces last weekend. Freshman Gus Graham and transfers Will Schierholz, Nick Scheller and John Monnig made their first career appearances as RedHawks. They combined for 3.1 innings pitched, allowing three hits and one run.
JOHNSON MAKING STRIDES: After some injury problems last season, senior Kendall Johnson has been pegged to be the team’s new first baseman. In 39 games last season, Johnson hit just .185 but has started of this season on a high-note, batting .600 with one RBI in two games. In addition, Hayden loves his defensive game and believes he will be a key asset to the team this season. “I’m looking forward to see what Kendall Johnson can do from the first base position, to see if he can hold his own,” said Hayden. “He had a really nice fall, especially towards the end. He’s tremendous defensively. We want to try to make it work with him over there and we’re confident he’s going to do a good job.”
VERSATILE ‘HAWKS: Versatility is the name of the game for the RedHawks. Hayden prides himself on having a team in which a large majority of the guys can play just about any position they are asked to. Last season, after starting 40 games at shortstop, senior Ryan Elble is slotted to play left field this season. Last season, five RedHawks played three or more different positions. Hayden has no hesitation putting players in different positions, even if they don’t have much experience playing it.
