 |
 |
|
May 11, 2002
AKRON, Ohio - After suffering a tough loss in Friday's series opener the Miami University (26-24, 13-10 Mid-American) baseball team regrouped on Saturday afternoon at Canal Park with two dominating victories, 13-3 and 14-1, over the Akron Zips (18-26, 8-14 MAC). Senior hurlers Shawn Landis (Pleasant Hill, Ohio/Dayton) and Russ Bayer (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) combined to strike out eight Zips' batters while allowing only four runs to improve to 6-0 and 7-2, respectively.
Junior David Cook (Columbus, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales) took the first pitch of the doubleheader deep over the center fielders head for a leadoff triple in the first inning of game one. The three-bagger extended Cook's hitting streak to 15 games. Cook came around to score the Red and White's first run when sophomore Josh Widlansky (Coral Gables, Fla./Travella) hit a sacrifice fly to right field.
The Zips scarred Landis for one run in the second inning but the RedHawks gave their starter a 3-1 lead with two runs in the third inning. Widlansky, who sacrificed home Cook in the first inning, led off with a single up the middle. Junior Mike Galloway (St. Thomas, Ontario/Central Michigan) plated Widlansky with a towering home run deep to left-center field.
Four more runs in the fourth inning by Miami gave it a 7-1 lead. Cook singled home one run in the frame, and Carlin also recorded an RBI with a single to center field. Finishing off the damage for the RedHawks was junior pinch hitter Adam Moos (Medina, Ohio/Medina) with a two-run double to right-center field.
A leadoff home run in the bottom of the fourth by first baseman Dan Swallie cut the Zips' deficit to 7-2, but the RedHawks retaliated with five more runs in the fifth frame. Akron hurler Chris Maczko relieved starter Aaron Gangi and proceeded to walk the first two Miami batters he faced. Freshman Brian Canada (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) bunted his second sacrifice of the contest to move both runners to second and third for Cook. Both runners crossed the dish when Cook slapped a two-RBI single up the middle. The next RedHawks' batter, Widlansky, walked and Galloway plated Cook with a single through the left side. Galloway and Widlansky moved to second and third, respectively, on a wild pitch and both scored on Moos' single to center field. Moos led the RedHawks with four RBI in the contest going 2-for-2.
|
|
 |
Each team added one more run each in the ninth inning as the RedHawks cruised to the 13-3 victory. Landis ups his record to a perfect 6-0 by winning his fourth straight start. Akron's Gangi falls to 3-3 after giving up seven runs in four innings of work.
After a quick break in between contests the Red and White opened up another lead by scoring two runs in the first stanza of the second game. Junior Andi Scheidt (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) drew a one-out base on balls and was followed by a Galloway single through the left side of the infield. After the RedHawk's recorded their second out freshman Paul Frietch (Montgomery, Ohio/Moeller) hit an RBI single to lead Scheidt to the plate. Galloway increased Miami's lead to 2-0 when sophomore Ryan Edginton (Chester Springs, Pa./Arizona State) paved his way to the plate with an RBI single through the right side.
With Bayer sending the Zips down in order in the first two innings Miami decided to tag Akron starter Frank Mendoza for five runs in the third frame. Scheidt drew his second walk of the game to leadoff the frame and moved to second with a stolen base. Miami put men on first and third after a Carlin single, and Frietch hit home his second runner of the game with a single to left field. Carlin moved plateward for Miami's second run on an Edginton double, and freshman Sam Sellery (Carmel, Ind./Cathedral) completed the carnage with a three-run blast to right field. The dinger was Sellery's fourth of the season.
Facing a seven-run deficit and a red hot RedHawk on the hill in Bayer, Akron continued to put up zeros against the Miami southpaw. While Bayer allowed only three hits in the first five innings, Miami added one run in the fourth and five more in the fifth to build a 13-0 advantage. The fifth inning commenced when Edginton reached on an error, and advanced to third on Sellery's double to shallow center field. Junior Zach Schmidt (Cincinnati, Ohio/McNicholas) brought both Miami runners home with a two-run single up the middle. Successfully bunting twice in the first game, Canada made some noise with the bat by triple down the right-field line to score Schmidt from first. The last two runs of the inning were brought home by RBI singles from Scheidt and Frietch.
Twirling a shutout through the first six innings Bayer's line was finally tarnished when Akron's Tom Lindhe led off with a triple to center field. Lindhe broke up the shutout one batter later when he scored on a ground out to make it a 13-1 game. Bayer finished off the Zips in order receiving no further damage.
Capping off the RedHawks' 14-1 victory with his first career home run in the ninth inning was freshman Kurt Weigle (West Lafayette, Ind./Benton Central). Weigle took a 2-0 pitch from Akron reliever James Hursong deep to right-center field ricocheting high off the Miller Lite advertisement 50 feet off the ground.
Bayer twirled his fourth complete game of the season by striking out five Akron batters and only allowing one run. The victory improves his record to 7-2, and gives him 28 career wins to move him into sole possession of second place all-time at Miami for wins.
The RedHawks attempt to finish off the Zips tomorrow afternoon, May 12, at 1 p.m. The game is being played at Akron's Lee Jackson Field.
|
|
||
| MuRedHawks.com WEB | ||
