March 19, 2010

Complete Release/Game Notes

Leading Off: Riding a five-game winning streak, Miami returns to the state of Alabama for the second time in 2010, as the RedHawks face Jacksonville State of the Ohio Valley Conference in a three-game series beginning with Saturday’s doubleheader, which starts at 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. CT). The ‘Hawks and Gamecocks conclude the series Sunday at 1 p.m. ET (noon CT). Miami won its home opener Wednesday over Northern Kentucky, 3-1, as eight pitchers combined to allow just six hits while the one run allowed is a season low. Prior to that, the RedHawks went 4-0 during their spring break trip in Florida, as junior catcher Adam Weisenburger led the way and earned MAC East Player of the Week plaudits for his efforts. Junior infielder Ryan Kaup, who’s been playing for injured co-captain Jon Edgington, is riding an eight-game hitting streak.

The Series: Miami and Jacksonville State have met just once previously -- on March 13, 2009 in Florida during Miami’s spring break trip. The RedHawks squeaked out a 7-6 victory in that contest with a walk-off single while current sophomore Jordan Jankowski earned the win on the mound.

About the Gamecocks: After starting the season 0-4 with two losses each to Michigan and Texas Tech, Jacksonville State has won its last three games, including the final two of a three-game set against fellow MAC foe Eastern Michigan. JSU is hitting .322 as a team, led by senior catcher Andrew Edge, who bats a team-best .400 and has a team-high 26 RBI while smacking five home runs. Sophomore Sam Eberly has 25 RBI and a team-leading seven round-trippers. Five Gamecocks bat .350 or better, including Bert Smith, who leads the team with eight stolen bases. JSU has been caught just once on the base paths, going 16-for-17. The Gamecocks are also patient at the plate, earning 91 walks (Miami has just 34), but are slugging .521 as a team, as Jax State has notched 43 doubles, eight triples and 20 homers as a squad. Alex Jones has three saves out of the bullpen for JSU while Jordan Beistline has thrown a team-high 19.0 innings and gone 2-1 with a 3.79 ERA.

On Deck: Following its three-game series at Jacksonville State -- Miami’s fifth and final southern trip of the season -- the RedHawks face another OVC foe in Eastern Kentucky in a pair of mid-week contests. The Colonels host Miami on Tuesday, March 23 at 3 p.m. ET before EKU travels north to Oxford on Wednesday, March 24 for a 6 p.m. ET contest at McKie Field at Hayden Park.

Weisenburger Wins MAC East Honor: Junior catcher Adam Weisenburger earned MAC East Player of the Week honors March 16, the first of his career, after hitting .727 (8-for-11) in Miami’s four wins in Florida. He had three doubles and two homers to help him to a 1.545 slugging percentage while notching seven RBI and scoring 10 runs. The co-captain’s best game was a 4-for-5 showing March 13 vs. Indiana, as he came a triple shy of the cycle, tying a career high with four hits, while scoring a career-best four runs. He is the second RedHawk to earn a MAC weekly honor in 2010, as junior outfielder Adam Eaton won the same award after opening weekend.

Heating Up in the Sunshine State: Miami’s offense may have gotten off to a slow start in 2010, but a trip to Florida for spring break was all the RedHawks needed to get their bats going. Miami batted .368 as a team while going 4-0 from March 9-13, compared to a .260 team average over the first nine games. The ’Hawks belted as many home runs in the Sunshine State (8) as they did in the first nine games of 2010, including five of the eight in Florida coming March 13 against Indiana. Miami also drastically improved its run total, plating 51 runs (12.75 per game) in the four contests over spring break, compared to 59 runs (6.56 per game) in the nine games prior to open the season.

It wasn’t all fun in the sun for the ‘Hawks however, as rain later in the week washed out games against Fairfield (March 11), Sacred Heart (March 12) and North Dakota State (March 13) and shortened their game against Rhode Island (March 11) to six innings (a 4-3 win), but Miami was able to pick up the Hoosiers on short notice, as the teams squared off in Gainesville, Fla. at Gainesville High School before returning to Oxford.

Jankowski of All Trades: Sophomore right-handed pitcher/catcher Jordan Jankowski has done a little bit of everything for the RedHawks in 2010. In Miami’s three-game series at Auburn March 5-7, he played a different position each game. Friday, March 5, Jankowski came out of the bullpen to pitch in relief, on Saturday he started at catcher and Sunday he made his first collegiate start at first base, when he also drilled his first career home run. The McMurray, Pa., native has also started as Miami’s DH four times and is batting .400 on the year (tops on the team) with 11 RBI and a pair of home runs. Twice in 2010 Jankowski has started at DH and later taken the mound in relief and earned the save (March 10 vs. Yale and March 17 vs. Northern Kentucky). His two saves this year give him seven for his career, which moves him into a tie for eighth on Miami’s all-time top-10 saves list (see page 18 for a complete list).

Jankowski almost single-handedly defeated Louisiana-Lafayette in Miami’s 7-5 11-inning win Feb. 27, as he both pitched and hit in the extra sessions. On the mound, he threw the final three innings, including both extra innings, without allowing a run or a hit, while strikeout out five to earn the win. In the top of the 11th inning, Jankowski was forced to bat because Miami lost its designated hitter in the lineup and he hit the go-ahead two-RBI single before securing the win with his arm in the bottom of the frame.

Klepto-Redhawks: Miami has been using its speed to its advantage so far in 2010, going a near perfect 22-for-23 on stolen base attempts, led by junior outfielder Adam Eaton’s 10-for-10 showing. Junior second baseman Jon Edgington and sophomore outfielder Ryan Brenner have each swiped three bags while five other ’Hawks have at least stolen one. The RedHawks started the year a perfect 19-for-19 until being caught March 13 vs. Indiana. Entering the week (March 15), Miami was third in the MAC in stolen bases, three behind Northern Illinois’ league-best 24, but had the best success rate in the conference at 95.5 percent.

Racking Up the Runs: After being shutout in its season opener Feb. 19, Miami exploded for 23 runs in a 23-5 victory over Furman on Feb. 20. The 23 runs marked the most by a Miami squad since a 35-8 win over Quinnipiac on June 4, 2005 in the NCAA Tournament. Ten different RedHawks crossed home at least once, including six who did it more than once. Junior outfielder Adam Eaton led the way with six runs while junior second baseman Jon Edgington scored four times. In the seventh inning, the ’Hawks tallied 12 runs alone as 16 RedHawks came to the plate, giving Miami its most runs in a single frame since registering 12 in the ninth inning in the win over Quinnipiac.

The ‘Hawks lit up the scoreboard again March 13, pounding out 19 runs, including a season-best five homers, in a 19-7 win over Indiana. Back-to-back seven-run innings (4th and 5th) helped spur the outburst. The 19 runs are the second-most by a Miami team since putting up 35 against Quinnipiac, as the RedHawks did not score more than 18 runs from 2006-09. Miami is 4-0 when scoring 10 or more runs so far this season.

Gschwind is Mr. Reliable: Junior infielder Brad Gschwind has been a rock for Miami the last two seasons, as he has started in 69 straight games, including all 55 last year and 14 so far in 2010. He was the only RedHawk to start all 55 games in 2009 and is just one of three to start all 14 this season (Adam Eaton and Adam Weisenburger). The Cincinnati native has started 88 career games for Miami and played in his 100th career game against the Northern Kentucky March 17. Fellow junior infielder Jon Edgington had played in 69 straight games, including all 55 in 2009, until a hand injury at Auburn on March 5 has forced him to miss all but one of Miami’s last seven games. Prior to his injury, the co-captain had not seen action in just nine games in his career (all as a freshman in 2008), as he’s played in 108 games as a RedHawk, starting 103. Junior outfielder Adam Eaton is the active leader in both games played and started for Miami with 117 and 116, respectively, missing just six career games (two in 2009).

Pair of Adams Leading the MAC: Junior outfielder Adam Eaton and junior catcher Adam Weisenburger have been the leaders of Miami’s offense so far in 2010, as both rank towards the top of the Mid-American Conference in many statistical categories. As of March 15, Eaton led the MAC in runs scored (19), was second in RBI (17), stolen bases (9) and total bases (38) and tied for the league lead in triples (2). He was also in the top 10 statistically in hits (t-8th/19), home runs (t-2nd/4) and slugging percentage (4th/.704). Weisenburger ranked second in slugging (.729), seventh in batting average (.417) and tied for second in doubles (6). He also ranked in the top 10 in hits (t-4th/20), runs scored (t-7th/13), home runs (t-5th/3), RBI (t-4th/15), total bases (t-3rd/35), walks (t-8th/8) and on-base percentage (t-5th/.500).

Eaton a Triple Threat: Junior outfielder Adam Eaton, although just early in his third year playing for the RedHawks, already ranks tied for fifth on Miami’s career triples chart with 11, including a pair so far this year. He needs just one more three-bagger to move into a four-way tie for second while Chris Sexton (1990-93) holds the Miami all-time record with 14 career triples. Eaton had six three-baggers in 2009, tying for fourth on Miami’s single-season list, and three as a freshman. To see the complete top-10 career triples list, see page 17.

‘Hawks Migrated South to Start Season: Miami was on the road quite a bit to start the 2010 campaign as the RedHawks played their first 13 games away from Oxford before hosting Northern Kentucky March 17. Not only were the games not at McKie Field at Hayden Park, all 13 games were south of the Mason-Dixon line, as Miami opened with three games in South Carolina (Feb. 19-21), played three at Louisiana-Lafayette (Feb. 27-28), faced Auburn in a three-game set (March 5-7) and traveled on to Florida for four games during its spring break trip, all before its first home game. Miami now heads back to Alabama for another three-game weekend series with Jacksonville State.

Over the first 13 games (four states), the RedHawks logged approximately 4,856 miles of travel (round trip), not including their upcoming trip to Jacksonville, Ala.

For the complete release, click here.

--MURedHawks.com--

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