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April 18, 2002
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REDHAWKS HOPE TO MAKE BUFFALO SERIES THE TURNING POINT OF THIS YEAR'S SEASON: Exactly one year ago the Miami baseball team had a 2-6 conference record entering a series at Buffalo, and left New York with four wins and a .500 league mark. This season the RedHawks are 3-5 in the MAC entering this weekends' series at home against Buffalo, and hope that, again, the Bulls will provide a boost for the RedHawks into the upper tiers of the MAC standings.
After a 1-3 weekend against Ball State and a 7-5 loss at Butler on Wednesday, the Red and White enter this weekend having lost its last six out of seven contests. This record eerily mirrors what last year's squad was doing entering the Buffalo series, losing seven out of ten games before traveling to Buffalo. Fortunately for coach Tracy Smith and the RedHawks they have a 4-0 all-time record against the Bulls, and having never faced them at home. Not to mention the Bulls enter the weekend with a 2-6 MAC record and 9-13 overall mark.
RECENT REDHAWK ACTION: The RedHawks lost the lead not just once, but twice at Butler on Wednesday afternoon. After taking early 2-1 and 5-4 advantages, respectively, Miami allowed the Bulldogs to steal the contest, 7-5, with two three-run innings in the fourth and fifth frames.
Driving in three of Miami's five runs was junior Mike Galloway (St. Thomas, Ontario/Central Michigan), who went 3-for-4 in the contest to end a 3-for-20 hitting slump. Also knocking two hits was junior David Cook (Columbus, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales) to improve his hitting streak to five games. Tossing the final four innings of relief was freshman Jim Knytych (LaGrange Park, Ill./Lyons Township) who used just 44 pitches to keep the Bulldogs from scoring anymore runs.
SCOUTING THE BULLS: Stating that Buffalo has been up and down this season is an understatement, as the Bulls enter this weekend with a 9-13 overall mark. Early in the week the Bulls dropped both games of a doubleheader to Kent State, getting outscored 24-11 in the twinbill. The resilient Bulls responded the very next day with a confident 7-2 win at Niagara. Buffalo has had no better than a three-game win streak this season, and on the flip side no worse than a two-game losing streak.
With a strong 8-9 record on the road the Bulls pose as a formidable threat to the RedHawks. Leading the Bulls out of the batter's box is junior Brandon DiCesare with a .333 batting average (25-75). DiCesare leads the team with 32 total bases and seven doubles. He is equally hard to get out only striking out nine teams, the lowest mark among Buffalo starters. Freshman Phil Vanhorne has been a menace on the basepaths for the Bulls successfully swiping nine out of 11 bases this season.
As a team the Bulls have posted a 6.53 earned run average, which is sixth in the MAC and one spot behind Miami. Posted the lowest ERAs on the hill are righty's Tyler Balentine (2.32) and Anthony Puccia (2.53). Balentine has a 2-1 record in three starts and six appearances, while Puccia has notched two saves in his five appearances on the mound. Buffalo's workhorse has been Brandon Dunford with 40 innings pitched and a 5.63 ERA. Buffalo's pitching staff also has recorded a league best four straight Pitcher's of the Week accolades from March 4-March 25.
LIVESTATS NOW AVAILABLE: All home Miami baseball games are available now on the internet via www.MURedHawks.com. The gamecast is very similar to what ESPN.com and CBS.Sportsline.com run on their websites. This weekends' contests against Buffalo will be the first time that livestats are run so be warned that there may be glitches in the software and connection. The system should be completely bug-free by the Wright State contest on Tuesday, April 23.
HOW THEY STACK UP AGAINST EACH OTHER: Miami junior Mike Galloway fell into fifth in the conference in batting average (.412) after a recent slump. He does, however, retain the conference lead in hits (49) and runs scored (37). He also is ranked in the MAC's top ten for home runs (t-5th), triples (t-3rd), RBI (t-3rd), total bases (3rd), on-base percentage (5th) and slugging percentage (5th).
Even though he isn't active freshman John Slone (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier), whose .420 clip (34-81) is tops among all first-year players in the conference, still has enough at-bats to rank fourth overall in batting average.
Without any hitting leaders, Buffalo relies on Balentine and the pitching staff to win games. After last week Balentine has the third-best ERA in the MAC at 2.48. Junior Chris Leonard (Columbus, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales) is one of two RedHawk hurlers in the league's leaders with a 3.23 ERA, putting him sixth in the MAC. Ranked tenth in the conference with a 4.47 ERA is senior Russ Bayer (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North).
WALK OFF WIDLANSKY: Sophomore Josh Widlansky (Coral Springs, Fla./Travella) has made the most of his opportunities this season by being one of coach Smith's favorite pinch hitters and defensive substitutes. In 15 at-bats with runners in scoring position, Widlansky has swatted six hits to lead 12 of his teammates to the plate. His .400 batting average with runners in scoring position is third best on Miami's squad, and he showed it against Georgia State on Saturday, March 30.
Widlansky's only order was to hit the ball deep enough for the sacrifice fly, which would score the game-winning run for the RedHawks. He followed his order's to a "T" by blasting the first pitch he saw directly over the center field wall for a game-winning, walk-off, pinch-hit grand slam. It was the first grand slam and pinch-hit home run in McKie Field history.
TOO MUCH TO BAYER FOR OPPONENTS: Senior hurler Russ Bayer has been a stud on the hill for Miami this season. With a 5-1 record Bayer brings his career total to 26 victories. His 26 wins place him in a tie for third all-time at Miami with Brian Weeks (1989-92). Bayer also ranks in the top ten of several other categories in Miami's history including innings pitched (7th), strikeouts (t-10) and games (t-10). Even more impressive is that his 26 victories put him in a tie for 11th all-time in the MAC.
KIENINGER MAKING AN APPEARANCE: Senior Billy Kieninger (Xenia, Ohio/Xenia) has appeared in 13 out of 32 games for the RedHawks, the most of any Miami pitcher. He has posted a 2-3 record in these 13 games, but more importantly has accumulated 62 career appearances to move into a tie for sixth all time at Miami.
BAD CONNECTION AT THE DISH: Through 32 games the RedHawks have made that long walk back to the dugout 251 times. At their current pace of 7.84 strikeouts per game the RedHawks will surpass last season's mark of 398 by 72 (470).
Miami also has not been very good at avoiding the double play, hitting into 23 of them compared to last year's mark of 25.
HOMEWARD BOUND: Junior Mike Galloway and freshman Sam Sellery (Carmel, Ind./Cathedral) have hit the ball when it counts this season, leading the RedHawks with .447 and .421 batting averages with runners in scoring position, respectively. Galloway has plated 28 of his team-leading 38 RBI with runners in scoring position, while Sellery has accounted for seven of his nine RBI with runners past second base.
LUCKY SEVEN NOT SO LUCKY FOR SLONE: Freshman John Slone went two-for-three at Indiana on April 9 to extend his hitting streak to seven games, but the streak came at a cost. In his fourth plate appearance Slone drew a base on balls but was hit on the hand during the at-bat. The result was an unfavorable one for the RedHawks as Slone's left-hand pinky was broken. His time out of the lineup is undisclosed, but he could see time in the designated hitter slot.
ARMED AND READY BEHIND THE PLATE: Miami's trio of catchers have been stingy on would-be basestealers this season, throwing out one runner for every 1.4 successful swipes (16-39). Freshman Nolan McCue (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle) has gunned down 80 percent (8-10) of runners that have attempted to steal against his arm to lead the RedHawk backstops. John Slone has allowed 15 thefts on 18 attempts, while freshman Kurt Weigle (West Lafayette, Ind./Benton Central) has thrown out 40.0 percent (4-10) of basestealers against him.
DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK: The Miami bullpen has been solid this season when it has a lead entering the seventh inning. The RedHawks are 9-0 when entering the seventh inning and 10-0 when leading after eight innings are complete. This past week seniors Billy Kieninger and Shawn Landis (Pleasant Hills, Ohio/Dayton) both recorded their first saves of the season for Miami.
Both Kieninger and Landis are scheduled to make their first starts of the season this weekend against Buffalo.
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