May 24, 2002

Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Miami University (31-28) baseball team made its earliest exit from the Mid-American Conference tournament in three years this afternoon by dropping a 19-16 slugfest to Ball State at Warren Steller Field. At the end of the day the Cardinals' nine unanswered runs in the first four innings and 26 hits in the contest proved to be too much for the RedHawks to handle.

Ball State didn't waste any time in building a lead on the Red and White as it notched four runs in the first inning, three in the second, and one in each the third and fourth frames before Miami scored its first run. The Cardinals built their 9-0 advantage with 15 hits in the first four innings, including three home runs from Brad Snyder, Matt Deckman and Kiel Holman.

The RedHawks finally scraped at the Ball State lead when they managed to score three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Yesterday's hero junior Michael Carlin (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) hit a one-out double to get things rolling, and was followed by Ryan Edginton (Chester Springs, Pa./Arizona State) who hit a single to left field. Carlin crossed the plate for Miami's first run when the Ball State left fielder misplayed the ball allowing Carlin to score from second base. Junior Andi Scheidt (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) finished off the three-run stanza with a towering two-run home run that cleared the pine trees behind the left-center field fence.

Scoring at a torrid pace through four innings Ball State notched two more runs in the fifth, but Miami put a huge dent in the Cardinals' lead in the bottom half of the inning. Junior David Cook (Columbus, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales) took advantage of a fielding error by the BSU right fielder turning his single into a man on second base. Plating Cook with an RBI single to left field was freshman Sam Sellery (Carmel, Ind./Cathedral), who was promptly followed by a single off the bat of junior Mike Galloway (St. Thomas, Ontario/Central Michigan). With runners on first and third Edginton knocked an infield single to third base scoring Sellery to cut the gap to 11-5. Miami dealt the crushing blow to Ball State three batters later when freshman Paul Frietch (Mongomery, Ohio/Moeller) walloped his second grand slam of the season over the left-field wall to make it a two-run game, 11-9.

Ball State matched the RedHawks' inning with a four-run frame of its own in the sixth inning, and added four more runs over the final three innings to build a sizable 19-10 lead. All was not lost for the RedHawks as they poised themselves for one final comeback in the bottom of the ninth inning. Carlin led the frame off with a single to left field, the first of four straight Miami hits. An Edginton double to right field and a pinch-hit single by junior Adam Moos (Medina, Ohio/Medina) scored Carlin to commence the rally. An RBI single by junior Zach Schmidt (Cincinnati, Ohio/McNicholas) scored Edginton, and a single by junior George Stegmiller (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) loaded the bases for Cook. Cook kept the rally alive with a two-run double to right field making it a 19-15 contest. The RedHawks mustered up two more runs but ran out of outs still trailing 19-16, and thus exiting the double-elimination tournament with two losses.

Ball State reliever John Pettibone earned the victory despite allowing six earned runs in 3.2 frames of work. Losing the decision for the RedHawks was senior Billy Kieninger (Xenia, Ohio/Xenia). Kieninger permitted seven runs in two innings, however, only five of the runs were earned.

The RedHawks finish the season with a 31-28 record, marking the fifth straight campaign that head coach Trach Smith and Miami have topped the 30-win plateau. The Red and White also recorded a 16-12 conference tally for the third straight season.

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