Miami University baseball fans will have to put their brooms back in the closet. The RedHawks (14-13) fell short of sweeping the Western Michigan University Broncos (7-19) Saturday, falling 8-5. The Red and White looked dominant in the first two contests winning 9-1 and 13-4, with tremendous pitching and no errors committed.
"We certainly swung the bats really well," Miami head coach Dan Simonds said. "Our offensive production in the first two games was pretty powerful. We had great approach at the plate. We made some adjustments over the week, cut down the number of our strikeouts and we put more balls in play. When we do that, we are going to put a lot of pressure on defenses, so it was nice to see we did make some good adjustments at the plate."
The 'Hawks earned their fourth straight MAC victory Friday on the arm of senior southpaw Matt Erwood. After the Broncos pinned a run on him in the first, Erwood threw seven shutout innings and struck out six batters.
Tommy Nurre continued to swing hard and hit far, touching up a Bronco pitch in the first for a two-run shot, his sixth this season.
"Personally, early in the game I'm coming out and pitchers want to establish a fastball," Nurre said. "I've been lucky enough to see a few fastballs early in counts, early in games put good rhythm on the ball and they've found a way to hit gaps and out of the park."
The 'Hawks then set the pace in the fourth with the help of a single by freshman Ryan Curl that plated two. Senior Jordan Petraitis launched one over the fence in the eighth to close out the game and leave the score at 9-1.
The 'Hawks picked up where they left off Saturday. Nurre got the offense going early again with a sacrifice fly in the first. Miami pitchers brought their "A" game, holding the one run lead until RedHawk bats could add insurance in the fourth.
Junior Zak Hatfield drove in the busy Nurre with a two-base hit to right field and later came in to score. The Broncos finally put a run on the scoreboard in the fourth, but Miami pitchers remained stingy. A Chris Nadeau two-run homer in the fifth set the tone for the offense soon to come in Kalamazoo. The talented Curl brought in two runs with one swing on a hit to left field. Nurre drove in yet another run with a clutch single to left to make the score 13-2. The Broncos meagerly mustered two runs in the ninth, but the game was well decided by then.
Because of inclement weather forecasts Saturday, the Red and White were forced to play a double header. They returned to Hyames Field with hopes of earning their second series sweep in as many weeks.
The 'Hawks took the lead on the familiar bat of Tommy Nurre after he belted a Bronco pitch for a solo shot in the second.
Western Michigan took the lead by scoring two in the bottom of the inning. The Broncos then scored three times on four hits in the fourth to make the score 5-1, and they never looked back. A RedHawk attempt at a comeback looked promising but was quickly answered by the belligerent Broncos. The home team smashed all Miami hope with a trio of runs in the seventh. The 'Hawks also added two runs in the eighth when both Petraitis and sophomore Adam Eaton came around to score but they were again deterred by a determined opponent. The Broncos slammed the door late and earned an 8-5 victory.
"We played well, we probably had one of our better defensive games on the second game," Simonds said. "We swung the bats alright. As far as an explanation on why we fell short, the guy pitched a pretty good game. We've got to do a better job of closing it out. We didn't have any letdown, were ready to play, played hard. We just didn't get it done."
The Red and White will return home Tuesday to take on the Sycamores of Indiana State University.
