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A diehard crowd of Miami University baseball fans remained in the bleachers at Hayden Park for nearly seven hours to watch their RedHawks (16-14) take both games of a double header Saturday against Central Michigan University. The two victories enabled the 'Hawks to lock up the series early against the Chippewas (15-19), and they needed it as they fell 9-4 in Sunday's Easter matchup. The two Mid-American Conference victories keep the Red and White in contention for the prospect of an Eastern division title.
Saturday's matinee included a stellar extra inning contest that concluded when freshman Ryan Curl knocked in a run in the 13th inning to give the 'Hawks a 6-5 victory. The late performance saw the home team dominate their Michigan counterpart, 4-1, with textbook execution on the mound.
"Every weekend is obviously important," head coach Dan Simonds said. "Playing conference play, we came ready to play. We have to come out with that same intensity level and same level of focus, especially after coming back in the first game like we did."
Digging in on the mound for the Red and White was sophomore Tyler Melling. Melling headed to the dugout to a round of applause from the crowd after pitching more than seven innings and giving up zero earned runs and three hits. He also fanned six unlucky victims. The budding star's performance improved his record to 4-0 but more importantly improved his standing with coach Simonds.
"Tyler Melling did an outstanding job," Simonds said. "We needed that from him especially using our bullpen as much as we did in the first game. For him to step up like that and Dawes to come in and get the job done was a big plus for us. It's almost like three or four innings before we woke up, but we didn't shut it down. We kept playing the game, we started figuring some things out at the plate and came through."
Ryan Curl showed off his sweet swing in the third inning to get the scoring started. The leadoff bomb was good for his first homerun in a RedHawk jersey and would jumpstart the team's streaky bats.
Following up Curl was designated hitter Zak Hatfield, who plated two runs when he connected for a double. Next came an Eric Darlage single, which brought in what would prove to be the last Miami run of the very long day.
The lowly Chippewas slickly slithered in a run in the 4th inning before having the door slammed in their face by Melling and the RedHawk bullpen.
"Trying to build off of a little bit of momentum we had going," Melling said. "Just go out there, get ahead of hitters and carry it into the second game. We had good approach at the plate, and I just went out there and did my best and good things happened. To take two in one day is always a big thing. We have huge momentum on our side. It was nice to lock up the series win."
On deck for the RedHawks is a non-conference matchup with the Wright State Raiders. First pitch will be thrown at 3 p.m. Tuesday in Cincinnati.
