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RedHawk baseball loses seventh straight

By Daniel Taylor, The Miami Student

Though the Miami University baseball team finally found some offense, it was not enough to snap a now seven-game losing streak after being swept by East Tennessee State University last weekend.

The RedHawks (2-12) lost all three games by a combined four runs. The Friday series opener ended in a 7-5 defeat and was followed by a 6-5 loss Saturday and an 11-10 loss Sunday.

The Buccaneers snapped a five-game losing skid and improved to 10-7 on the season.

Friday's contest showed a glimmer of hope for the RedHawks as they outhit the Bucs 13-6, but it could have been better for manager Danny Hayden's team. Twelve men were left on base, and senior Ryan Powers allowed six earned runs.

Powers (1-4) walked five, hit a batter and managed only one strikeout.

ETSU senior Jimmy Nesselt had a career night on the mound.

Nesselt (3-0) pitched 7 innings and struck out a career-high 12 batters while only walking two and giving up three earned runs.

RedHawk senior Matt Honchel went 1-4 at bat, and junior shortstop Chad Sedio went 2-5 with one RBI. Senior catcher Max Andresen went 3-5 and scored twice in his best game of the year.

ETSU junior first basemen Kevin Phillips was on fire, going 2-3 with four RBIs. Phillips' two-run home run in the third inning to give the Bucs a 3-2 lead.

The RedHawks had another solid offensive display spoiled Saturday.

This time it was not so much a result of shaky pitching as it was bad defense.

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Sophomore Jacob Banks (1-4) pitched 6.2 innings, allowing two earned runs and four runs total. Banks also totaled three strikeouts and one walk.

Sophomore southpaw Ryan Marske pitched 1.3 innings at relief. Marske struck out two and didn't allow a single man to reach base.

"We're definitely looking for ways to expand his role," Hayden said. "We've got to find more innings for him to pitch."

Buccaneer sophomore Jamin McCann achieved his first win at relief. McCann (1-0) dealt 2.2 innings to allow two earned runs.

Sedio had another solid day at the plate. He was 3-5 at bat and added another RBI for the RedHawks.

Junior second basemen Trey York was the hero for Eastern Tennessee, going 2-3 with 2 RBIs. The Sunday finale was a slugfest. The two squads combined for 30 hits and 21 runs in the tilt.

Senior righty Nathan Williams allowed seven runs, five of which were earned, in 4.2 innings.

Williams (0-1) allowed 10 hits and walked two.

ETSU led 10-5 entering the ninth inning, but Miami scored five runs to tie the game.

After Bucs senior Zach Thompson singled in the bottom of the ninth, junior Jeremy Taylor found a gap to bring Thompson home for a ETSU walk-off series sweep.

Though failing to pick up a win was "extremely frustrating" for Hayden, he and the coaching staff believe the weekend as a whole was a turnaround offensively.

"Hopefully it's step one of turning this thing around," Hayden said. "We didn't play good enough baseball this weekend. We've got to take accountability for that."

Miami returns to the diamond for a two-game faceoff with Xavier University this week.

Xavier (4-14) enters the series on a 10-game losing streak after being swept by Tulane University last weekend. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. Tuesday in Cincinnati. The second contest begins 6 p.m. Wednesday in Oxford.