Baseball to Play in Fighting Camel Classic
2/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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Miami RedHawks (1-4, 0-0 MAC)
Games 6-8
Fighting Camel Classic | Buies Creek, N.C.
ON TAP
The RedHawks (1-4) head back south to Buies Creek, N.C. for the Fighting Camel Classic. The three-game tournament features matchups against host Campbell, Furman and Maryland-East Shore.
Friday, February 27 – Campbell
ABOUT CAMPBELL (5-2, 0-0 Big South): The Fighting Camels come in with the best record of any of Miami’s opponents this weekend. They won two out of three against Northern Kentucky to start the season. This past weekend, they hosted the Campbell Invitational. They’ve won three of their last four, including a 3-1 win over Virginia Tech. Last season, the Fighting Camels finished 41-21 (18-8 Big South) and won the Big South Tournament Championship. They met South Carolina in NCAA Regionals, losing 5-2. They defeated Old Dominion 4-1 in 12 innings to stay alive. However, Campbell met South Carolina once again and were defeated 9-0, ending their season.
SERIES HISTORY: The RedHawks and the Fighting Camels have never met before.
Saturday, February 28 – Furman
ABOUT FURMAN: (3-4, 0-0 Southern): The Paladins are coming off a weekend in which they earned two wins and lost one. Furman went 26-33 (11-15 Southern) last season and made it to the conference tournament semifinal before losing in 12 innings to eventual champion Georgia Southern.
SERIES HISTORY: The RedHawks are 9-10 all-time against the Paladins. They last met in 2013 at the Greenville Drive Classic. The Paladins took two games from the RedHawks, both by a score of 6-5.
Sunday, February 1 – Maryland-Eastern Shore
ABOUT UMES (1-5, 0-0 MEAC): The Hawks come in having lost two of three to Navy. They began their season at Alabama and were swept and outscored 36-0 over the three games. UMES went 13-35 (8-16 MEAC) last season, finishing fourth in the northern division. The Hawks are led by sophomore Justin Dattilo who is hitting .294. UMES has just three hitters batting .200 or better.
SERIES HISTORY: Miami and UMES have not met prior.
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. So far this season, Powers has a 1-1 record with a 5.00 ERA. Opponents are hitting just .167 against him. Last weekend, Powers started against USC Upstate and pitched six scoreless innings, allowing no hits and striking out a career-high eight Spartan batters.
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 eight hits last weekend, senior Matt Honchel now has 236 career hits. He now sits one behind Miami Associate Head Coach Jeremy Ison for fifth all-time. In addition, Honchel moved up the career batting average list and currently sits at sixth all-time with a .355 average. This season, Honchel is off to a hot start with a .500 batting average with two doubles, four runs and one RBI.
STEP ON UP: After some injury problems last season, senior Kendall Johnson has been pegged to be the 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.” So far this season, Johnson leads the RedHawks with four runs batted in. He’s hitting .267 and has garnered a .400 on-base percentage.
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.
NEW FACES: While no newcomers have had an at-bat this season, the bullpen has seen a number of new faces making their first career appearance.
Gus Graham: 2 app, 3 IP, 1R, 1BB, 2SO, 0.00 ERA and a .100 opp batting avg.
Chris Ticherich: 1 app, 3 IP, 1BB, 2SO and 0.00 ERA
Will Schierholz: 1 app, 1IP, 1BB, 0.00 ERA and a .250 opp batting avg.
Nick Scheller: 2 app, 3.1 IP, 1R, 2BB, 2SO, 2.70 ERA and a .231 opp. batting avg
