Preview: Miami opens first home series of 2024 schedule against Oakland University

The Miami University RedHawks will face the Oakland University Golden Grizzlies in a three-game series this weekend.

After the initial home-opening game against Wright State University was postponed due to weather on Tuesday, the RedHawks will finally hold their first home game and their first home series of the season.

The Golden Grizzlies, who are playing 14 games on the road, have traveled 45 minutes to Oxford after their 9-6 loss against the University of Cincinnati Bearcats.

With the loss to the Bearcats, the Golden Grizzlies are 3-4 on the season.

Oakland’s highest run total came in the final game of the Eastern Kentucky series, where they put up 19 runs in seven innings. However, in three of the six games they have played so far this season, they have allowed double-digit runs.

As for Miami, they come into the series with a record of 2-5, winning their series against the Middle Tennessee State University Blue Raiders. They started the year 0-4 with a series loss to No. 25 University of South Carolina and a midweek loss to No. 23 Indiana University.

The last time these two teams were in opposing dugouts was late March of last season when the RedHawks ventured up to Rochester, Michigan, and demolished the Grizzlies 9-3. Only eight days prior, the Grizzlies came to Oxford for one game and came out on top with a 12-9 victory.

These two programs have only played in a series against one another once, five years ago today, on March 1, 2019. The RedHawks won all three games.

This season, the RedHawks have found their game on the mound and in the batter’s box. All of the starting pitchers that Miami skipper Brian Smiley put on the rubber across the three games — Patrick Mastrian IV, Peyton Olejnik, and Nick Vardavas — pitched at least five innings, and the offense came to play.

Junior outfielder Zach MacDonald is the only player on the Miami roster who has started all seven games thus far and has an OPS of at least 1.000.

The only other player with that high of an OPS is sophomore outfielder Tré Keels, who has only started three of the seven games but has a batting average of .500 and has walked a team-leading six times.

Junior catcher Ty Batusich is also a leader for the RedHawks offense. He is first on the team in RBIs after catching and being the designated hitter against MTSU, going 5-for-12 in the series. He was honored this week as the Miami Athlete of the Week for his performance.

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As for the Golden Grizzlies, they have seven players with a batting average of at least .300 and four with an OPS of at least 1.000. Three of those four players–graduate student outfielder Ian Cleary, senior catcher Brandon Heidal, and sophomore outfielder Reggie Bussey — have started every game. The one who has not, redshirt first-year infielder Lucas Day, has started in six of the seven.

Bussey was a catalyst for a lot of the Oakland offense against the Bearcats, hitting a double, triple, and stealing a base, so not only will he be a player to watch in the batter’s box, on the basepaths as well.

The pitching staff for the Grizzlies hasn’t been all that they would have hoped for up to this point, but their bullpen has some bright spots.

Ben Paugh, a senior righty from Columbus, Ohio, has appeared in three games and registered a 1.69 ERA and 0.56 WHIP (walks + hits per innings pitched). He has been the most reliable weapon for manager Jordan Banfield out of the pen.

First-year right-hander Shane McAlinden started against the Bearcats and earned the loss, but with six strikeouts in six innings pitched and a 1.84 WHIP, he has shown some promise early.

This series is just as big, if not bigger, for the RedHawks than the MTSU series was. It gives them a chance to get back on even footing. The hitters and pitchers look more confident, and if that confidence can carry over, it would be a huge step forward following a bumpy start.

The game times are 3 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

@jjmid04

middleje@miamioh.edu