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The morale of the Miami University baseball team took a hit early this week. The Eastern Kentucky University Colonels mystified the Red and White (12-12) 9-6 Tuesday. The following day the 'Hawks stumbled early and were defeated by the Xavier University Musketeers 9-7 in a game that wasn't all that close.
"You're not going to be able to put up runs like we did against Eastern Michigan all the time," head coach Dan Simonds said. "It was unfortunate that we had opportunities that we did not capitalize on in both games … We have to learn from that and make sure we get a whole lot better at making sure we keep the runs down and not give up the big innings. We have to stay away from doing that period."
The Red and White were reminiscent of the last horse out of the gate as the Musketeers (14-9) filled up the scoreboard early with a small ball approach. They managed to drench the red-hot 'Hawks bats, holding them to one run, while tallying seven runs in the first two innings with a spraying of singles. The 'Hawks helped their opponent with some untimely wild pitches and several errors.
The RedHawks caught a break in the third when freshman center fielder Ryan Curl reached on an error. After a walk to the dangerous sophomore Adam Eaton, Curl scampered over to second. Curl then advanced to third on a fielder's choice and came in to score when a pitch hit MAC East player of the week and Cincinnati native, Tommy Nurre.
"When that happens it puts more pressure on the hitters to rally," Nurre said. "We were down, just fighting back. We put up some runs but it was about getting big hits when we needed them."
The 'Hawks looked to be gaining ground in the fourth with two men on base when senior third baseman Jordan Petraitis turned a tough pitch into an infield single. Second baseman Jon Edgington slid into home because of a Xavier error. Left fielder Chris Nadeau then laced a single to right field, scoring the speedy Adam Eaton. Nurre grounded out to end the inning and leave the score at 7-3.
Strong relief pitching just wasn't there for the RedHawks, and they gave up two more runs in the fifth to put the Red and White behind 9-3. With two outs in the sixth inning the game already appeared to be over when Eaton brought his heavy bat into the box. The slugger jumped all over a Tyler Koors pitch and sent it into the trees beyond the left field fence for a solo home run.
It did not take any more offensive production for Xavier to come out with the win after the fifth inning. The 'Hawks had their work cut out for them in the ninth, staring down the barrel of a six run deficit, but they did not appear to be deterred. Miami had outscored its opponents 21-3 in the ninth inning. Edgington "hit it where they weren't" and singled up the middle, and sophomore Kyle Wheldon was walked to give Miami two base runners. Eaton then came up to the plate and singled to load the bases with no outs. Petraitis connected for a single and drove in two runs to bring the 'Hawks within four. Nurre then broke loose on a Musketeer pitch for a double and scored Eaton. Xavier then slammed the door in Miami's face with two strikeouts to end the contest.
"We still look at the Eastern Michigan series," Nurre said. "We are excited about this weekend. Going into Western this weekend we are looking to take all three. We think we have a better lineup and better pitching staff. That's our goal this weekend."
The Red and White will be back in the MAC at 3 p.m. Friday. The 'Hawks will travel to Michigan and take a shot at the Western Michigan University Broncos for a three game series before returning to the friendly confines of McKie Field April 7.
