Miami Baseball
Wind, wild pitches help Zips take two from RedHawks
Miami baseball team allows 30 runs in the doubleheader, hurting its shot at the MAC tourney.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
OXFORD — To begin with, the wind was blowing out at McKie Field. Not a good sign for pitchers.
The Miami University hurlers complicated matters by throwing pitches out of the strike zone. Lots of them. Two games, 18 walks.
Extras
RedHawks coach Dan Simonds called it "a recipe for losing."
The Akron Zips landed a haymaker to Miami's Mid-American Conference tournament hopes Saturday, May 3, by sweeping the RedHawks 16-8 and 14-10 in a doubleheader.
The three-game series had been scheduled to start Friday but was rained out. Thus, Saturday's back-to-back games.
Neither of them would make Miami's season highlight reel.
"I knew conditions would come into play a little bit," Simonds said of the wind, which helped carry five baseballs over the outfield fence. Four of the home runs belonged to the Zips (22-18, 7-7 MAC). "But when your pitchers give up nine walks in a game. ... You can't put yourself in a position like that on a day like this.
"We've got work to do," added Simonds, whose team slipped to 16-30 and 6-14. "It's been obviously a little bit tough, but it starts with me and my staff, and we have to continue to work hard."
Neither of Miami's starting pitchers lasted long Saturday.
In Game 1, Matt Erwood allowed eight hits and five earned runs in three innings.
The RedHawks did rally from a 6-0 deficit by scoring five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, but the Zips put the game on ice with four runs in the seventh and four more in the ninth.
Miami's second-game starter, Chris Niro, didn't have much of a problem with walks. In fact, neither did Erwood. Of the 18 walks allowed by the RedHawks, 14 were given up by the bullpen.
Niro, however, was rocked for nine earned runs on 15 hits in 41/3 innings.
Miami first baseman Tommy Nurre extended his hitting streak to 13 games by going 1-for-5 in the opener and 3-for-5 in the nightcap, including a three-run homer in the first inning.
J.D. Mynhier was 3-for-3 with two doubles for the RedHawks in the opener, and Chris Nadeau was 2-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI.
The big hitters for Akron were Brandon White, 2-for-5 with a homer and five RBIs in the opener, and catcher John Turk, 5-for-5 with a homer and seven RBIs in Game 2.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197
or pconrad@coxohio.com.
