Feb. 25, 2006

Box Score

GREENVILLE, S.C. - Junior lefthanded pitcher Keith Weiser (Hamilton, Ohio) dropped his first decision since the 2004 season on Saturday as the Miami RedHawks dropped their season-opening game, 8-5 to the Furman Paladins in the first game of a doubleheader. Weiser, who went 10-0 last season, had not been defeated since May 26, 2004.

Furman struck first for the Paladins in the top of the second inning when third baseman Joe Daysh belted a solo home run off Miami's Keith Weiser (Hamilton, Ohio) for a 1-0 Furman lead.

In the top of the fourth, a two-out single down the rightfield line by freshman Jordan Petraitis (Canal Fulton, Ohio) plated junior Jeff Carroll (Columbus, Ohio) from second base and evened the score, 1-1, after Carroll belted a one-out double to right centerfield.

Two Miami errors prolonged the bottom of the fifth inning allowing the Paladins to score a pair of unearned runs and take a 3-1 lead. Miami was poised to get out of the inning without allowing a run, but senior shortstop Eric Radley's (Hermitage, Tenn.) throw on the back end of an attempted 4-6-3 double play allowed the first run of the inning to cross the plate. Furman first baseman Case Cassedy plated the second run with a double to left centerfield.

Senior Will Reynolds (Brownsburg, Ind.) brought the RedHawks to within one run at 3-2 when his two-out single through the left side scored junior Brandon Hillier (Hinsdale, Ill.) from second base. Hillier led off the inning with an infield single and advanced to second on senior Geoff Orr's (Orland Park, Ill.) groundball to third.

A single and a double in the sixth inning chased Weiser from the game in favor of sophomore righthander Connor Graham (Bowling Green, Ohio) with one out. Graham was greeted by Furman's centerfielder Andrew Greene who ripped a two-RBI double down the rightfield line and gave the Paladins a 5-2 edge. Greene promptly stole third base and then scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-2 for Furman.

Miami loaded the bases with one out in the top of the seventh inning and forced Furman to make a pitching change, removing starter Matt Klinker after he went 6.1 innings and allowed eight hits while striking out five. With Ryan Hudson on the mound, the RedHawks proceeded to score three times, making the score 6-5. A fielding error on Hillier's groundball to first base with one out allowed a pair of RedHawks to score, before Hillier and junior Ryne Robinson (Toledo, Ohio) combined on a perfectly executed double steal that allowed Robinson to cross the plate with Miami's fifth run before Hillier was tagged out in a rundown between first and second.

Graham allowed the first three batters in the bottom of the seventh to reach base and allowed one run before senior Sam Shorts (Lombard, Ill.) entered the game for Miami with runners on first and second. After recording two outs without allowing a run, an error by Robinson in left field gave Furman an 8-5 lead, which turned out to be the game's final score.

The RedHawks and Paladins play game two of the doubleheader at approximately 4 p.m. Sophomore John Ely (Homewood, Ill.) is slated to start on the mound for Miami.

NOTES: FR Jordan Petraitis collected three hits in his first collegiate game ... FR Eric Darlage and JR Jeff Carroll (transfer from Ohio State) collected their first hits as RedHawks.

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