March 26, 2008

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MIAMI WELCOMES DAYTON FOR MID-WEEK CONTEST: Miami welcomes Dayton for a mid-week contest at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26. Wednesday's match-up marks the only meeting between the schools this season. Following Wednesday's game, the RedHawks prepare for a weekend series against Eastern Michigan in Ypsilanti, Mich.

ABOUT THE FLYERS: Dayton enters Wednesday's game with a 12-7 record after defeating Findlay, 13-3, on Tuesday. Kevin Miller leads the Flyers with a .383 batting average, but Jake Hoover leads the team with 20 RBIs. As a pitching staff, Dayton has only given up four home runs this season.

THE SERIES WITH DAYTON: Miami leads the all-time series 94-57-1 and the RedHawks are 62-14 against Dayton in Oxford. Miami has won six straight contests over the Flyers. Dayton's last win in the series was on April 10, 2002, when the Flyers defeated Miami 3-2 in Oxford.

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.

ON THE HILL: Sophomore pitcher Nick Kurash is scheduled to get the start for the RedHawks against Dayton on Wednesday evening. Kurash has pitched 1.0 inning in his career against the Flyers, giving up two earned runs and striking out two batters. For his career, Kurash has a 5.03 ERA in 19.2 innings of work. Kurash is making the fifth start of his career and the second of the season.

Sophomore Matt Speckman is scheduled to make his first start and appearance of the season against Miami on Wednesday. Speckman is a right-handed pitcher and the RedHawks are just 2-10 against right-handed pitchers this season. Against righties this season, Miami is batting .272.

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 14 contests. Petraitis has a 14-game hitting streak dating back to March 1 and during that stretch he is batting .400. Petraitis has 22 hits over the past 14 games, 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 10 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 DAYTON: Five current RedHawks have had at-bats against the Flyers in their careers and all have had some success. Senior Evan Armitage is the only RedHawk player to face the Flyers' more than once and he and junior Jordan Petraitis are the only active RedHawks' to hit home runs against Dayton.