Senior Chris Niro

March 6, 2008

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MIAMI PLAYS FIRST SERIES OF THE SEASON AGAINST SAMFORD: The RedHawks earned their first win of the season versus No. 25 Louisiana-Lafayette, before falling to Southern Mississipi and New Orleans last weekend. This weekend will mark the first series for Miami this season as it faces Samford in Birmingham, Ala. The two will face off in a doubleheader Saturday March 8th at 1 p.m. (CT) and 4 p.m. (CT), and then again on Sunday March 9th at 1 p.m. (CT).

ABOUT THE BULLDOGS: After earning a win versus Kennesaw State and two versus Saint Louis, the Bulldogs lost a heartbreaker on March 4th to South Alabama in 10 innings. Samford has not lost a game at home, and boasts a team batting average of .292 despite a tough schedule. Michael Rutledge has been the leading run producer this season as he leads the team with eight RBIs and one homerun. Jonathan Stevens has dominated the pitching scene so far this season with a 1-0 record and he has the lowest ERA among Bulldog starters, 3.38.

THE SERIES WITH THE FIELD: This series will be the first meeting for Miami and Samford in school history.

MEASURING STICK: The RedHawks have opened this season with one of the toughest schedules in the country. Miami is 1-5 on the season, but all of its opponents went to the 2007 NCAA Regionals. The RedHawks opened with No. 1 Arizona State, No. 3 Vanderbilt and No. 7 Oregon State in their opening week of competition, before playing No. 25 Louisiana-Lafayette, New Orleans and Southern Miss, a team who is currently receiving national votes.

CHAFFEE AND NIRO EARN MAC HONORS: Senior pitcher Chris Niro and junior outfielder Blake Chaffee were named Mid-American Conference East Division Pitcher and Baseball Player of the Week, respectively. Niro pitched 5 1/3 innings against No. 25 Louisiana-Lafayette and gave up just one earned run on four hits, while striking out two Ragin' Cajun batters. Chaffee led the RedHawks with a .333 average over the weekend in games against No. 25 Louisiana Lafayette, No. 29 Southern Miss and New Orleans. Chaffee went 2-for-4 against the nationally-ranked Ragin' Cajuns and collected a clutch two-out RBI in the sixth inning to tie the game. Chaffee also went 1-for-4 with an RBI against New Orleans. Chafee extended his hitting streak to five games.

REDHAWKS EARN FIRST WIN OF THE YEAR AGAINST NO. 25 RAGIN' CAJUNS: Playing its fourth nationally-ranked team to start the season, the RedHawks defeated the No. 25 Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns 3-1 in extra innings March 1. Junior Tommy Nurre belted a two-run double in the top of the 10th inning to drive in the go ahead run and give Miami its first win of the season.

NADEAU NAMED MAC EAST DIVISION PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Junior outfielder Chris Nadeau had a stellar weekend at the plate in the DeMarini Invitational (Feb. 22-24), hosted by Arizona State. Against three nationally-ranked teams, No. 1 Arizona State, No. 3 Vanderbilt and No. 7 Oregon State, Nadeau hit .556 (5-of-9), including a double and scored three runs. After drawing two walks against the top-ranked Sun Devils, Nadeau went 2-for-4 against the back-to-back national champions, Oregon State, before delivering a 3-for-3 performance against last year's SEC champs, Vanderbilt, which tied a career-high for most hits in a game.

HONORS AND AWARDS: Senior pitcher Matt Erwood and junior outfielder Chris Nadeau were named to the DeMarini Invitational All-Tournament Team for their performances in Tempe, Az., Feb. 22-24. Nadeau hit .556 for the week, while Erwood pitched six innings, giving up six hits and one earned run. Erwood struck out five Commodores, including striking out the side in the first inning.

KING OF THE HILL: Senior pitchers Chris Niro has put together two great outings in his first two outings of the season. Niro got the nod against No. 1 Arizona State and wnet 5 2/3 innings giving up two hits and zero earned runs against the top team in the nation. In his next outing against No. 25 Louisiana-Lafayette, Niro gave up just four hits and one earned run in 5 1/3 innings. For the season, Niro has a 0.89 ERA with six strikeouts.

LOOK WHO'S BACK: Miami returns 11 letterwinners from a season ago, led by junior shortstop and First-Team All-MAC selection, Jordan Petraitis and junior catcher Josh Hula, a 30th round draft pick in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft. Senior Evan Armitage, junior Chris Nadeau, junior Eric Darlage and senior Chris Niro are all position players returning that exceeded 30 starts a season ago. With Miami's three primary starters from last season gone, the RedHawks will rely on young, talented arms, along with an experienced bullpen to earn some wins. Senior Bobby Oberschlake saw action in 29 games and had an ERA of 1.48, which was the seventh best ERA for a single-season in Miami history. Seniors Steve Antoniotti, Matt Erwood and Niro join Oberschlake as the lone seniors on the mound. The RedHawks will rely on their youth to provide quality innings. Sophomores Reece Asbury, Chase Stewart, Nick Kurash and Jamaal Hollis all saw action last season and will compete for innings this season.

NEW FACES: The RedHawks added 13 new faces to the 2008 roster and five of those newcomers are pitchers, while the remaining eight are divided into one catcher, five infielders and two outfielders. Samuel Dawes, Tyler Melling and Ryan Meyers and Kyle Donawerth are true freshman, while junior Brad Wilder is a transfer from Miami University's Hamilton campus. Freshmen Adam Weisenburger, Brad Gschwind, Drew Hormann, John Hornke, Kyle Weldon, Adam Eaton and Jon Edgington are expected to compete for playing time at a variety of positions and freshman Kevin Sakofs transferred in from St. John's University (N.Y.)

BASEBALL AMERICA'S PRESEASON RANKINGS: According to a survey compiled by Mid-American Conference coaches for the Baseball America College Preview, Miami was picked to finish second in the MAC East Division behind 2007 MAC Tournament Champion, Kent State. Making the list of preseason all-conference selections were senior second baseman Evan Armitage and junior shortstop Jordan Petraitis. Petraitis was also named as one of the Top 5 prospects in the MAC. Freshman Brad Gschwind was also named as one of the Top 3 newcomers in the conference.