May 20, 2002
Tournament Notes Including 2002 Player Bios
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REDHAWKS ADVANCE TO MAC TOURNAMENT FOR SIXTH STRAIGHT SEASON: Last weekend's split at home against Kent State was all that the Miami baseball team needed to get into the MAC Tournament for its sixth straight season. The RedHawks finished the regular season with a 16-12 conference tally, marking the third year in a row with that league record, and face No. 1 seed Bowling Green on Wednesday, May 22 at 1 p.m.
The format of this year's tournament is the same as past years, it is a double-elimination tourney with the winner needing a minimum of four wins and as many as six. Bowling Green earned the distinguished honor of hosting the MAC Tournament by sweeping the Akron Zips in its final week of conference action. Winner of the West Division is Eastern Michigan, and it serves as the No. 2 seed in the tournament. Rounding out the tournament field are No. 3 Kent State, No. 4 Bowling Green and No. 5 Central Michigan. CMU beat out the RedHawks for the fifth seed by winning an 18-inning thriller in the season finale at Toledo.
RECENT REDHAWK MAC ACTION: The RedHawks entered last weekend's series against Kent State not knowing what their status was concerning the MAC Tournament. The Red and White, however, quickly asserted itself as being a regular in the postseason by splitting the Saturday doubleheader, and followed up on Sunday with another split.
Starting the must-win contest on Saturday for Miami was senior Shawn Landis (Pleasant Hill, Ohio/Dayton) who had been spectacular for the RedHawks since becoming a regular starter. Unbeaten in his previous four starts Landis quickly showed the Golden Flashes why his record was 6-0. After allowing three runs in the first four frames Landis settled into his rhythm over the final three innings, allowing no runs while striking out six Kent State batters. His fourth complete game of the season helped the RedHawks to a 5-3 victory, and at the same time improved his record a perfect 7-0.
Miami started its other seven-game winner in the nightcap, senior Russ Bayer (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North), and was nip-and-tuck with the Golden Flashes until a five-run ninth inning gave Kent State the 10-4 decision. Bayer worked the first 6.1 innings and was unable to collect his fifth win when KSU rattled off five runs during his stay.
Sunday marked the dedication day for Miami's McKie Field at Hayden Park, and Kent State stole the show by winning the contest 3-1. The RedHawks responded in the second game with a 4-1 victory behind junior Adam Keel's (Fairfield, Ohio/Fairfield) best performance from the hill. Working his first nine-inning complete game since his freshman season Keel allowed one run on three hits while whiffing two KSU batsmen.
SCOUTING THE FALCONS AND THE REST OF THE FIELD: Miami's first-round competition is against the top team in the league Bowling Green. The Falcons wrapped up the regular season by sweeping Akron to give them a 31-2 record and an 18-7 mark in conference.
BGSU features a high-powered offense that enters the postseason leading the MAC in batting average (.336) and runs per game (8.8). Wielding a bigstick for the Falcons are several players, including Corey Loomis and his lofty .412 clip. Right behind Loomis is slugger Kelly Hunt who happens to pace the conference with 22 round-trippers. Hunt also leads the MAC in RBI with 80, and is second in hits (84), runs scored (67) and total bases (165).
Bowling Green, however, lives and dies at the plate as its pitching staff is seventh in the MAC with a 6.21 earned run average. Falcons pitchers are allowing opponents to bat at a .305 clip, and have a gaudy 4.98 walks per nine innings ratio. Freshman Tyler Saneholtz is BGSU's top pitcher with a 4.29 earned run average in 13 games and nine starts. Saneholtz has been solid with a 6-1 record and boasts the leagues eighth-best ERA.
The No. 2 seed Eastern Michigan, the West Division winner, is a well-balanced squad that is sixth in batting (.306) and eighth in pitching (7.19). EMU's hopes for a MAC Championship are certainly weighing on the shoulders of sophomore Ryan Goleski and his 22 bombs.
Miami's last weekend foe Kent State poses as the No. 3 seed. The Golden Flashes are sure to be on a mission after losing home-field advantage this past weekend at Miami, and will use every member of their pitching staff to win the tourney in back-to-back years. Kent State is third in the MAC with a 4.97 team ERA.
Perhaps the scariest opponent in the tournament is the No. 4 seed Ball State. The Cardinals have one of the nation's best pitchers in right-hander Bryan Bullington, as well as two other members of the leagues top-five pitchers in Luke Hagerty and Patrick Lowery.
Rounding out the field and possible opponents for the RedHawks is No. 5 seed Central Michigan. Central Michigan earned the five seed with an 18-inning win at Toledo, and are a formidable postseason opponent with the league's second best pitching staff (4.62 ERA).
LIVESTATS NOW AVAILABLE: The RedHawks' tournament contests will be available on the internet via www.MURedHawks.com. The gamecast is very similar to what ESPN.com and CBS.Sportsline.com run on their websites. However, only the Red and White contests are available on the web due to space and technical capabilities at the host site Bowling Green.
MIAMI IN THE MAC: Junior Mike Galloway (St. Thomas, Ontario/Central Michigan) continues to put on a show for the RedHawks' faithful and remain in the upper echelon of MAC performers. Galloway's .436 batting average (92-211) is tops in the conference by almost 20 points. He also leads the MAC in hits (92) and runs scored (68). He is second in the league with a .516 on-base percentage having walked 25 times and been plunked a dozen times.
Fellow Galloway classmates, juniors Michael Carlin (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) and David Cook (Columbus, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales), are also finding themselves in the MAC elite. Carlin is tied with Galloway for fifth in the conference with 15 bombs, and is 10th with a .651 slugging percentage. Miami's leadoff hitter Cook is sixth in the conference with 76 knocks.
Even though Landis is two innings shy of qualifying for the conference's pitching leaders, both Russ Bayer and Adam Keel find themselves in the top 13 for earned run average. Bayer's 4.58 ERA is 12th while Keel is one behind at No. 13 with a 4.79 ERA. Ranked 14th in the MAC with a 4.85 ERA is junior Chris Leonard (Columbus, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales), despite having been shutdown for the remainder of the season.
KEEL MAKES IT AN EVEN TRIFECTA FOR THE REDHAWKS: For the first time this season Miami baseball earned Mid-American Conference East Division Pitcher of the Week honors. Garnering the award for the RedHawks was junior pitcher Adam Keel who tossed his first nine-inning complete game of the season against Kent State for a win, and tossed in a save in a midweek contest at Wright State
Keel earned his second save of the season on Wednesday, May 15 at Wright State by working two solid innings in relief, allowing only one hit in two frames while striking out two Raiders' batters. He followed up this performance with his best work of the season on Sunday, May 19 at home against Kent State. Keel toed the mound for all nine innings against the Golden Flashes allowing three hits and one run in his first complete game of the season. The win was an important one as it prevented Kent State from becoming the host of the MAC Tournament, instead Bowling Green is the host.
In 11 innings of work Keel allowed only one earned run for a 0.82 earned run average. He also held opponents to a .108 (4-37) batting average while striking out four. The complete game against Kent State was his first since his freshman season.
NO SUCH THING AS A BAD LANDIS-ING: Senior Shawn Landis entered this season as Miami's premier guy out of the bullpen, but injuries to the starting rotation have forced the righty into five starts. In those five starts Landis has been nothing short of spectacular posting a 5-0 record and a 4.26 ERA. In four of his five starts he has gone the distance, and also is striking out two batters for every walk he issues. This type of performance on the hill is something that may propel Miami back into the championship contest.
DA BULLS ... DA BEARS ... COACH SMITH: Head coach Tracy Smith has taken little time in leaving a lasting impression at Miami. In only his sixth season at the helm Smith is quickly approaching the 200 career win plateau. Smith enters the postseason needing just one win to reach 200.
GALLOWAY'S ASSAULT ON THE RECORD BOOKS: In his first season with the RedHawks junior Mike Galloway has not disappointed anyone but Miami opponents. After batting .579 (22-38) over the final two weeks of the season Galloway is well on his way to breaking several of Miami's single-season records.
His .436 batting clip is the highest average that any player has recorded, and if he keeps it above Chris Sexton's single-season mark of .429 he will hold that record. His 92 hits are third, and with a minimum of two games remaining the mark of 96 is well within reach. He also has the second-best mark with 68 runs and is tied for second with 62 ribbies. With 15 home runs he is tied fourth with junior Michael Carlin on the single-season home run list.
PILING UP THE "W's": Miami hurlers Russ Bayer and Chris Leonard are each setting career records from the hill. Bayer's complete-game victory on Saturday at Akron gave him seven this season and 28 for his career. He has sole possession of second on Miami's all-time win list with 28, and is two away from Ben Burnau's (1985-88) record of 30.
With three years under his belt and battling through injuries this season is Leonard, but with two victories he brings his career win total to 20. Twenty wins ties Leonard with two others on the all-time win list.
WAVING THEIR WAY TO THE TOP: Russ Bayer and Chris Leonard, already climbing the career win list, also are making noise by sending opposing batters back to the dugout. Bayer's 216 career strikeouts put him eighth all-time at Miami while Leonard knocked Scott Sauerbeck, now with the Pittsburgh Pirates, from the top ten with 198 career strikeouts.
GALLOWAY HAS HIS SIGHTS SET HIGHER: Already with several RedHawk single-season marks within his grasp, Mike Galloway his scaling the MAC's single-season list with 92 hits. His 92 knocks puts him in a tie for fifth on the conference's season hit list.
Galloway's career numbers, two seasons with Central Michigan and one with Miami, are fairly impressive as well. His 237 career hits place him 14th all-time in the MAC, while his 171 ribbies are 10th overall. With 389 total bases and counting Galloway is 12th all-time in the MAC
SMOOTH AS SCHMIDT: Junior second baseman Zach Schmidt (Cincinnati, Ohio/McNicholas) is enjoying his best season with Miami in 2002. Through 52 games Schmidt is batting a career high .315 (51-162) from the dish. He already has equaled and surpassed his career high for RBI with 27, and also is tied for the team lead with three triples.
But it's not Schmidt's bat that keeps him in the lineup day-in and day-out, instead it's his glove. He has been the RedHawks most consistent infielder this season committing only seven errors in 271 chances. His .974 fielding percentage is the best among Miami's everyday infielders, and also is a career best for Schmidt. Schmidt leads Miami with 157 assists.
SPLINTERS AND OTHER TIDBITS FROM THE DIAMOND:
* The RedHawks' pitching staff has given up 29 fewer home runs than last season, despite having a higher earned run average. Opponents have hit 54 dingers in 2002 compared to last year's mark of 83.
* Sophomore Ryan Edginton has five assists this season from right field, the highest total since Clark Mace's four in 2000.
* This is the third straight season that the RedHawks have recorded a 16-12 mark in conference action.
* In his last two starts senior Billy Kieninger has held opponents to a .197 batting average (12-61), but is only 1-1.
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