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Red and White drop fourth straight game

By Daniel Taylor, The Miami Student

Miami University baseball lost its fourth consecutive game Wednesday night after falling to Ball State University 4-0.

Miami's hitting woes continued Wednesday, as the game marks the third time in the last four contests the RedHawks (2-9) could not score a run.

The Cardinals win percentage moved above .500 with the win and was a good rebound for the team after a 16-1 loss to Indiana University last weekend.

Ball State (8-7) scored early when sophomore catcher Jarett Rindfleisch hit his first home run. It was the only earned run junior pitcher Chris Ticherich surrendered in 4.3 innings.

RedHawk relievers were able to pitch four innings, while allowing two unearned runs.

Head coach Danny Hayden has been ecstatic with the performance of his staff thus far and said that when the bats come around they are going to be a solid team.

Unfortunately for Hayden, the RedHawks have not been able to find the sticks. They only had four hits Wednesday, and two of those came from senior Matt Honchel.

Honchel went 2 for 3 against Ball State and is hitting .488 on the year.

"I would have loved to see the ball like he is right now," Hayden said. "It's amplified because of how bad the rest of the team is hitting."

Hayden is pleased with the production from the centerfielder. However, he is getting antsy over the rest of the team's hitting.

"The guys are going to hit; it's just a matter of when," Hayden said. "I'm starting to sound like a broken record."

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The bats have been silent so far, and Hayden said the coaches are left scratching their heads, wondering when the team will finally find the spark. He hopes the spark comes soon, as Mid-American Conference season - something Hayden refers to as "the playoffs" - begins March 20.

The team travels to East Tennessee State University for a three-day series this weekend.

The Buccaneers (7-7) are on a five-game losing streak after losing to the University of Tennessee 5-2 Tuesday.

Hayden wants the team to find its spark and have at least one good day over the weekend to carry them into the big week of competition that will follow.

Senior righty Jimmy Nesselt leads ETSU off the rubber with a 2.52 ERA and 30 strikeouts. Nesselt is 2-0 in four starts. Junior infielder Trey York has five home runs, three triples and four doubles. York hits .480 and has a .980 slugging percentage.

First pitch is 6:05 p.m. Friday in Johnson City, Tennessee. Saturday's contest begins at 2:05 p.m., and the series finale is set for 1:05 p.m.

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