Photo by Lauren Olson, Photography Editor
By Daniel Taylor, For The Miami Student
In a pair of mid-week games, the Miami University baseball team was outhit 40-17 and outscored 32-8. The losses extend the RedHawks' losing streak to seven-straight games.
Miami (4-21, 2-4 Mid-American Conference) fell to No. 7 University of Louisville 16-5 Tuesday night before losing 16-3 to Marshall University Wednesday.
Louisville (22-7, 11-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) scored nine runs in the seventh inning on six hits.
Sophomore Corey Ray paced the Cardinals, going 3-5 from the plate and driving in four runs. Ray finished a single short of hitting for the cycle against Miami.
On the mound, sophomore Drew Harrington had seven strikeouts in three hitless innings of relief to earn the win for Louisville.
Miami freshman starter Gus Graham was credited with the loss after allowing four earned runs in 3 innings of work.
Junior outfielder Gary Russo extended his hitting streak to four games after Wednesday's loss and had two RBI going 2-4 against Louisville on Tuesday.
Senior infielder Kendall Johnson's is on a three-game hitting streak after Wednesday. Johnson was 2-4 with an RBI against Louisville.
Johnson and Russo's increasing offensive output has manager Danny Hayden optimistic about the remainder of the season.
"We're built to swing the bats good," Hayden said. "We're a couple of bounces away from getting this thing going in the right direction."
The 'Hawks returned home on April Fool's Day, but the result was not a joke.
Senior starter Clay Cinnamon pitched only 1 inning. Hayden said Cinnamon (0-2) suffered from discomfort in his bicep. However, Hayden believes Cinnamon will bounce back.
The righty gave up three runs on four hits and notches the loss.
The Thundering Herd (9-18, 2-7 Conference USA) pounced on senior reliever Ryan Haynes in the fourth inning and hung six runs on the board to take the 9-0 lead.
Miami retaliated with a pair of scores in the bottom of the fourth and one in the fifth, but allowed seven unanswered runs to reach home safely.
For the second consecutive game, Johnson drove in a run on a sacrifice fly.
Senior Matt Honchel was 0-5 at the plate, and his average has dropped under .400 for the first time all season.
The RedHawks travel to Bowling Green State University (7-16, 1-5 MAC) for a three-game series this weekend. First pitch is 3:05 p.m. Friday.
The series gives Miami an opportunity to get back over the .500 mark in MAC play.
"We're coming out there with everything we got on Friday," Hayden said. "They're going to be a tough win for us."
Hayden is excited to watch his senior Friday starter, Ryan Powers, rebound after last Friday's loss.
"I'm looking forward to watching Powers go take it," Hayden said. "He wants to atone for that last outing and I have no doubt he's going to."