After a successful opening day the Miami University men's baseball team took a retreat from the pristine pasture of McKie Field at Hayden Park to tour the southern states.

The RedHawks have logged more than 5,000 miles traveling the states on the young season.

On Wednesday, the Red and White (9-10) were back where they belonged and a swarm of fans welcomed them with open arms and applauding palms while they pulled off an 11-3 victory over the Eastern Kentucky University (8-11).

"It's nice to bounce back," Head Coach Dan Simonds said. "We've had a few games where we are a little bit flat. I don't know what played into that, granted it was some kind of long bus trips with it, but still it's no excuse. We have to play better."

The collision with the Colonels jumpstarts a five game homestretch and prepared the Red and White for the Central Michigan University (CMU) Chippewas in their first Mid-American Conference action.

Colonel bats took command in the first inning when the unwelcomed visitors put up a two spot to get things started. The Red and White wit was quick when they equaled the Colonel effort by crossing the plate twice themselves in the next inning and knotted the game up at 2-2. First baseman Kyle Weldon belted a pitch over the right field fence to earn both RBIs.

"It's nice to see us come out tonight and do things the right way in all phases of our game," Simonds said. "We had much better approaches at the plate. We were fouling off more pitches, keeping our at-bats alive and some guys came through with big hits."

From there, RedHawk pitchers started throwing flames and all the Colonels could do was sweat. Coach Simonds' bullpen kept Colonel bats quiet by not allowing a run in five straight innings, allowing the offense to advance the advantage to 4-2 in the fourth frame.

The Red and White shoved salt in the wound by posting three and four runs in the sixth and seventh stanzas. Sophomore Jordan Jankowski was the highlight of the run barrage because of his towering shot to left field that got lost in the evening sky. The sophomore finished 2-2 in his five plate appearances, scoring four runs and getting walked three times.

"I was really patient and I got a pitch to hit," Jankowski said. "Hitting around with Zak Hatfield and Weisenburger, it's a lot easier to get pitches to see because they don't want to face those guys. This is what we are capable of. If we work the plan like the coaches tell us, to be patient and get pitches to hit, we're going to be hard to beat. If we are patient and get good swings on the ball, the ball is going to drop."

Third baseman Brad Gschwind, Hatfield, Weldon and second baseman Jon Edgington each added two hits for the RedHawks.

"We've got a pretty good offensive team," Simonds said. "We've got power and speed and feel that we can put runs up on the board. We are putting better innings together through the course of the game."

The Red and White take the field again at 6 p.m. Friday for MAC action against CMU in Oxford.