The Miami University baseball team dropped its series against the Ball State University Cardinals over the weekend, losing the first two games before salvaging the weekend with a win Sunday. In the RedHawks' two losses during the series, they committed four errors resulting in five unearned runs.
"It was very important to win Sunday just to keep us in the hunt," Head Coach Dan Simonds said. "It was a disappointing weekend. We didn't do the little things we need to do."
All five unearned runs came in the 7-6 series opening defeat. Junior pitcher Mac Thoreson threw only four innings, giving up seven hits and six runs. However, only two of those runs were earned, but Thoreson was still tagged with the loss dropping his record to 3-3.
"We have to continue get better," Simonds said. "We took a small step back, but a step back nonetheless."
Offensively, the top of the lineup once again led the team. Leadoff hitter and senior outfielder Ryan Brenner went 4-13 with four runs scored over the course of the series. Freshman outfielder Matt Honchel went 5-14 and contributed two runs and an RBI, while senior outfielder Bryce Redeker went 4-11 with three runs and three RBIs. Cleanup hitter and junior first baseman Kevin Bower also hit well, going 7-15 with three RBIs over the weekend.
Sophomore third baseman Dan Walsh had an impressive series in coming back from injury, going 5-12 with one RBI.
The Red and White lost the second game 4-3 despite a solid start from junior pitcher Brooks Fiala. Fiala went eight innings, which counted as a complete game because Ball State did not bat in the bottom of the ninth. Fiala gave up four runs, all earned, on nine hits, dropping him to 2-4 on the year.
"We had opportunities but didn't execute when we had them," Simonds said.
Senior Shawn Marquardt pitched the series finale and helped the RedHawks avoid the sweep. In the 9-5 victory, Marquardt went 5.2 innings, giving up five earned runs and striking out five. Marquardt picked up the win for his efforts, moving his record to 3-2.
"We have to learn from this," Simonds said. "We have to improve in some areas. That means coaches and players."
The RedHawks return to Oxford when they host the Joe Nuxhall Invitational Tuesday and Wednesday. Wright State University and the University of Cincinnati (UC) will play the first game 3 p.m. Tuesday and the RedHawks will play Xavier University (XU) 6 p.m. The championship and consolation games will be played Wednesday. Miami will play 6:30 p.m. regardless of whether they win Tuesday.
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Xavier and Miami met early this year in Oxford, with XU winning the first game 8-3 and the RedHawks winning the second 6-3. Xavier enters the game 13-18 overall, with a 5-2 record in Atlantic-10 Conference play.
"I'm expecting us to go out and play better baseball," Simonds said. "[The Nuxhall Invitational] is exciting and it is full of good programs."
The Red and White will meet UC later in the year, during a home and home series. UC enters the tournament 11-19 overall, with a 1-8 Big East Conference record. The Bearcats are the defending Joe Nuxhall Invitational Champions.
Wright State enters the invitational with a 19-10 record and is 10-2 in the Horizon League. They are on a 10-game winning streak.
Fans can listen to both games live on www.redhawkradio.com or see the 'Hawks in person at McKie Field.
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