March 21, 2007
OXFORD, Ohio--Senior center fielder Brandon Hillier went 4-for-5 at the plate, scoring three runs, while sophomore shortstop Jordan Petraitis tallied three RBIs and a run off a 2-of-3 hitting effort to pace the Miami University baseball team (8-9) in a 9-5 win over Xavier University (4-18) on Wednesday afternoon at McKie Field at Hayden Park. The RedHawks amassed nine runs off 12 hits in the winning effort.
Miami went on the offensive early, scoring two runs in each of the first two innings. After freshman right fielder Gary King led off the first inning with a walk, senior center fielder Brandon Hillier doubled to put runners on second and third. Petraitis was walked to load the bases, and sophomore left fielder Chris Nadeau belted a two-run single to get the RedHawks on the board.
Designated hitter Drew Roberts led of the second inning for Xavier with a home run off the scoreboard to put the Musketeers within one run of the RedHawks at 2-1, but Miami came right back in the bottom of the second inning to take a 4-1 lead. With two outs, King again got on base on a walk and Hillier singled to put runners on first and second. Petraitis nailed a two-run double to score King and Hillier.
In the third inning, senior first baseman Jeff Carroll walked to get on base before sophomore designated hitter Eric Darlage pounded a triple to score Carroll and put the RedHawks at a 5-1 advantage.
The Musketeers were able to tally two runs in the top of the fourth. Second baseman Adam Lipski singled and advanced to second off a Jordan Wolf walk. A Miami error allowed Lipski to score and Wolf to advance to third, and a sacrifice bunt by Tyler Aholt scored Wolf to put Xavier within two runs, 5-3. Hillier tripled with one out and crossed the plate off a Petraitis sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning to give the RedHawks a 6-3 lead.
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Xavier and Miami each scored in the fifth inning. Third baseman Drew Schmidt singled to start the inning and advanced to third off a center fielder Adam Pasono one-out double. Lipski grounded out to first base but allowed Schmidt to score for the Musketeers. Carroll tagged a one-out double for the RedHawks, while Darlage reached on an error in the next at-bat, advancing Carroll to third. With runners on the corners, catcher Chris Hula scored Carroll on a sacrifice fly, and the RedHawks went in to the sixth inning with a 7-4 edge.
Neither team scored in the sixth inning and Xavier was unable to score in the top of the seventh and eighth innings. Miami tallied one run each in the seventh and eight innings. Carroll and Darlage were walked to start the seventh inning, and second baseman Evan Armitage singled to score Carroll. Petraitis singled to start the bottom of the eighth inning for the RedHawks and was advanced to second on a Nadeau ground out. Third baseman Dan Leonard doubled to score Petraitis and give Miami a 9-4 advantage.
Xavier shortstop Matt Waskerwitz doubled to get on base in the top of the ninth inning and advanced to third on a Pasono single. A sacrifice fly by Lipski scored Waskerwitz, but that was all the runs the Musketeers could muster as Miami went on to the 9-5 win.
Freshman pitcher Chase Stewart picked up his first win of the season, pitching 2.2 innings in relief of starter Robert Shannon, who pitched 3.1 innings for the RedHawks. Dan Graham, Xavier's starting pitcher, picked up the loss.
Miami returns to action this weekend, hosting Toledo in its Mid-American Conference opener. The RedHawks and Rockets battle at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, 5 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday in the three-game series.
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