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A picturesque spring day at Hayden Park was the setting for the Miami University baseball team's second series sweep of the season. The Red and White (20-15) safely corralled the University at Buffalo Bulls (14-23) 11-0 Saturday to conclude a series that displayed the terrific pitching, stellar defense and offensive fireworks that Miami fans have been anticipating. The three wins bagged by the home team keep them in the thick of a tight MAC East race for first place. The 'Hawks outslugged the visiting Bulls 15-9 Friday to earn their sixth victory at home before returning to the diamond with unfinished business.
"We keep putting ourselves in a good position in the MAC," second baseman Jon Edgington said. "We lost some games to Buffalo so we kind of owed them. We were pretty hot this weekend. We know every weekend's not going to be like that, we know we aren't going to be that hot every weekend. We have that confidence and we know that we can do that and have the potential to do that every game. We know that we could potentially score a run every inning of every game."
Saturday the RedHawks were only scheduled to play the bridge game of the series, but with Mother Nature threatening precipitation again Sunday afternoon they were forced to play their fourth consecutive weekend doubleheader. They opened up Saturday with a ridiculous power surge, short circuiting the Bulls 18-15. The Red and White scored a run in every inning of the game. With another slugfest gleaming on the horizon, head coach Dan Simonds handed the ball off to freshman Jordan Jankowski. The pitcher had a busy day, earning the save in relief during the first contest.
The hometown 'Hawks got the scoring started in the first, cashing in on a Bull's error that plated sophomore Jon Edgington. Third baseman Jordan Petraitis came flying in to score the second RedHawk run when senior Chris Nadeau smacked a two base hit. Edgington would return in the second inning and belt his third homer of the season to make the score 3-0. Freshman sensation Ryan Curl held down the turbo button for a triple and later came in to score when the opposing catcher dropped a third strike throw.
The Red and White were just getting started when the third inning came around. They strung together three straight singles to bring in the fifth run of the game. Sophomore Brad Gschwind then doubled down the left field chalk to plate catcher Eric Darlage before an Edgington sacrifice fly brought home another RedHawk. The smoldering hot bat of Ryan Curl added insult to injury when he brought home Gschwind with a double to left.
Jankowski stood calm and collected on the mound with more insurance than State Farm. The freshman went five plus innings, only gave up two hits and saturated the previously hot Bull bats by holding them scoreless.
"Jankowski is that rare two-way guy," Simonds said. "We recruited J.J. as both a catcher and a hitter and also we knew that he could pitch for us. He's a very strong competitor and he gave us a huge boost this weekend. Finishing game two and saving the game for us, then starting the next game and kind of taking momentum away from Buffalo which they gained in the first game. He shut them down to get the momentum back in our dug out."
Miami scored three more runs to end the scoring in the fifth inning. The final surge was highlighted by a Jordan Petraitis triple. The three-base knock brought in Edgington and right fielder Adam Eaton. The zero put up in the scoring column in the sixth inning ended a streak of 17 straight innings with at least one run for the 'Hawks.
Miami will break out of MAC play at 6 p.m. Tuesday when they face the Indiana State University Sycamores.
They will return to McKie field to take on the Xavier University Musketeers at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
