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Miami baseball winless at home

Photo by Lauren Olson, Photography Editor

By Daniel Taylor, Staff Writer

The Miami University baseball team had a tough weekend, as it lost every game in its three-game series against Central Michigan University.

The RedHawks (4-19, 2-4 Mid-American Conference) lost 11-0 Friday, 4-3 Saturday and 8-7 in the Sunday finale.

"We make too many mistakes," manager Danny Hayden said.

Despite the sweep, Hayden's expectations remain high for the team.

"The message is we need to come out to the field the right way every day," Hayden said. "We're not winning a ton of games right now, but that's not going to change my expectations."

The 11-0 loss on Friday featured five errors by the 'Hawks, including three by senior pitcher Ryan Powers.

"Central is a good team," Hayden said. "They put a lot of pressure on you defensively, and certainly Friday we did not do a good job of handling that."

The Chippewas (18-10, 5-1 MAC) had a runner on third when sophomore Alex Borglin tried a suicide squeeze. Powers mishandled the ball and couldn't get the out.

In the next at-bat, CMU freshman Zach McKinstry attempted a sacrifice bunt. Powers threw the ball into the outfield, and McKinstry reached third base as Borglin scored.

The back-to-back errors allowed Central Michigan to take a 3-0 lead. Powers surrendered another error in the fifth on another bunt, which brought another Chippewa home.

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Powers allowed six runs (three earned) and totaled six strikeouts in six innings pitched.

Sophomore southpaw Nick Deeg was stellar on CMU's mound. Deeg threw a complete game and a four-hit shutout.

The RedHawks jumped out in front 3-1 Saturday, but couldn't hold onto the lead.

The contest was tied 6-6 after the sixth inning, but the Chippewas took the lead in the seventh after a RBI single from senior Pat MacKenzie. In the ninth inning, the Red and White had two on with two out, but could not drive in the tying run.

On Sunday, Miami scored first for the first time all series after a pair of CMU errors provided senior Ryan Elble a chance to score.

After trading one-run innings and four-run innings, Miami led 6-5 after the fifth inning.

Central Michigan plated three runs in the sixth after senior Clay Cinnamon plunked the first two batters of the inning and sophomore Ryan Marske allowed a single. Senior Tyler Huntey added a two-run double for CMU.

Senior righty Nathan Williams lasted only 4.2 innings due to an elbow problem. He allowed four earned runs.

"He wants to do as much as he can," Hayden said. "We can't leave him out there as long as we'd like to sometimes because that thing will start barking on him."

After Cinnamon and Marske lasted only 0.3 innings each, senior Will Schierholz threw 3.2 innings of scoreless baseball.

"He's got the most guts in either dugout," Hayden said. "We knew we needed to keep the lead where it was and that was our best shot to do it."

Gary Russo brought in his first RBI of the year with a fifth-inning solo homer.

"With as strong as he is and as good of a hitter as he is, it's only a matter of time," Hayden said of Russo.

Senior outfielder Matt Honchel finished the weekend with four hits, placing him in a tie for third-most hits in Miami baseball history (261).

"He's been incredible," Hayden said. "He's a good example of when you work really hard, you end up being a pretty good player."

Miami travels to University of Louisville Tuesday and hosts Marshall University in Oxford Wednesday night.

"We're going in both of those games expecting to win," Hayden said. "A couple of wins would get us ready for Bowling Green on the weekend."