Miami Plays A Three-Game Series Versus Eastern Michigan

March 27, 2008

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MIAMI HITS THE ROAD FOR WEEKEND SERIES: The RedHawks return to Mid-American Conference play this weekend when Miami travels to Ypsilanti, Mich. for a three-game series against Eastern Michigan. Friday's game against the Eagles is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m., while Saturday's and Sunday's games are set to start at 1 p.m.

ABOUT THE EAGLES: Eastern Michigan collected its second win of the season with a 10-3 win over Michigan State on Wednesday. Steve Bradshaw is the top hitter in the MAC as he posts a batting average of .443. Bradshaw has collected 31 hits in 70 at bats and he has driven in 13 runs this season. Jeff Davis leads the team with 21 RBIs. The Eastern Michigan pitching staff has an ERA of 10.05 this season.

THE SERIES WITH EASTERN MICHIGAN: The Eagles lead the all-time series 51-41, including a 22-17 advantage over Miami when playing in Ypsilanti. The Eagles took the lone meeting of the year last season, 3-1, in Ypsilanti.

REDHAWKS FALL TO DAYTON, 7-3: Miami University's Baseball team trailed 7-0 in the fifth inning, but the RedHawks responded with three runs in the fifth to close within four runs, 7-3, but Miami could not advance a runner past second base for the remainder of the game as the RedHawks fell to Dayton, 7-3. Junior Chris Nadeau was one of six RedHawk players to record a hit, but Nadeau's two RBIs led the RedHawks.

A LOT OF WERTH: Freshman Kyle Donawerth has come out of the bullpen and shut down the opponent this season. Donawerth has pitched a total of eight innings in four appearances and he has yet to give up a run. Donawerth has given up just five hits and he has struck out nine batters compared to giving up one walk. Opponents are batting just .179 against the freshman hurler.

PETRAITIS NAMED MAC EAST DIVISION PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Junior Jordan Petraitis recorded a .400 hitting percentage and a superior 1.000 slugging percentage as the RedHawks went 3-3 last week. Collecting hits in all six games, Petraitis extended his hitting streak to 14 games. He went 10-for-25 at the plate with three doubles, three triples and two home runs, while scoring seven RedHawk runs and driving in a team-high-tying eight RBIs on the week, accounting for nearly 30 percent of Miami's scoring. Against Toledo in the Mid-American Conference opening series for both teams, Petraitis went 5-for-12 (.417) and had a 1.167 slugging percentage. Petraitis pounded out all three of his triples for the season over the weekend against the Rockets and added one of his three home runs for the year against Toledo, collecting one of this others earlier in the week against Lafayette.

ERWOOD NAMED MAC EAST PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Senior Matt Erwood picked up his second win of the season, pitching 7.0 innings in a dominant 8-1 win against Toledo in the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams. Erwood, posted a 0.00 ERA, giving up no runs and just three hits, while striking out four and allowing the Rockets just a .125 team batting average. Erwood is now 2-1 on the season, the most wins for a RedHawk pitcher this season, with a team-most 32.1 innings of work.

PETRAITIS IS HEATING UP: After a slow start during Miami's first four games where he batted .062, junior Jordan Petraitis has been Miami's hottest hitter over the last 15 contests. Petraitis is batting .379 over the past 15 games with 22 hits, 12 of which are extra base hits. The Canal Fulton, Ohio native has driven in all 13 of his RBIs this season over the past 11 games and all of his triples and home runs have occurred since March 16.

RACKING UP THE AWARDS: Through five weeks of the season, five RedHawk players have been named MAC East Divsion Player or Pitcher of the Week and two players have been named to an all-tournament team. Junior Chris Nadeau is a two-time MAC East Division Player of the Week and he also was named to the DeMarini Invitational all-tournament team. Senior Matt Erwood was most recently named the MAC East Division Pitcher of the week and he also joined Nadeau on the DeMarini Invitational all-tournament team. Juniors Blake Chaffee and Jordan Petraitis have also been named MAC East Division Player of the Week this season, while senior pitcher Chris Niro was named MAC East Division Pitcher of the Week Feb. 26.

AGAINST EMU: Seven current RedHawks have had at-bats against the Eagles in their careers. Junior Eric Darlage has clearly been Miami's most effective hitter against the Eagles as Darlage went 11-for-21 against Eastern Michigan in 2006 alone. Senior Bobby Oberschlake is the only RedHawk pitcher to have faced Eastern Michigan in his career.

No.	Name		         Avg.	HR	RBI	H	AB	GP
6	Evan Armitage		.200	0	1	2	10	2
7	Jordan Petraitis	.235	0	1	4	17	5
10	Chirs Nadeau		.357	0	4	5	14	5
20	Eric Darlage		.524	1	7	11	21	5
31	Tommy Nurre		.000	0	0	0	0	1
16	J.D. Mynhier		.000	0	0	0	2	1
17	Josh Hula		.000	0	0	0	3	1
				ERA	W-L	IP	K
28	Bobby Obserchlake	0.00	0-0	0.2	0