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COLLEGE BASEBALL: Miami will need arms

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By Pete Conrad, Staff Writer Updated 7:49 AM Wednesday, May 20, 2009

OXFORD — It is commonly known by Mid-American Conference baseball coaches, and sometimes painfully so, that you never can have too much pitching during the league tournament.

If the Miami RedHawks are to win this week’s title and gain an automatic NCAA berth, they will have to play anywhere from four to six games in the next four days. That can put a strain on any pitching staff. And there is no question Miami has enough pitchers; coach Dan Simonds has used 19 different hurlers this season, including 10 in one game.

What the RedHawks need is a combination of quantity and quality, starting today, May 20, when Miami’s ace, senior left-hander Matt Erwood, one of the top pitchers in the MAC with a 7-2 record and 4.23 ERA, faces Kent State in the opening round. Miami has a team ERA of 5.85, which is high, but it’s the fourth-lowest in the hitting-heavy MAC.

“Our pitching hasn’t been that good, but within the MAC it wasn’t all that bad,” Simonds said. “That’s encouraging.

“But to win this thing, we’re going to need some pitchers to step up and perform better than they did during the regular season,” he said.

Sophomore lefty Tyler Melling will start Miami’s second game Thursday in the winner’s bracket or loser’s bracket. After that, it all depends on who is available. Freshman right-hander Jordan Jankowski, who has a 5-1 record and leads Miami with five saves, also has seen action as the team’s No. 3 starter. He hasn’t pitched in the past 10 days due to a minor arm injury, but Simonds said Jankowski should be available.

“Having Jordan back for this tournament and close to 100 percent should be an added benefit,” Simonds said.

Other key hurlers will include Jamaal Hollis, who Simonds said was consistent all season; Samuel Dawes and Matt Rosinski, who share the Miami single-season record with 32 appearances this spring; and Reece Asbury.

“These guys will have to give us quality appearances,” Simonds said. “If that happens, we’ll be right in the mix.”

MAC baseball tournament

Who: No. 5 seed Miami (28-23, 15-12 MAC) vs. No. 4 seed Kent State (38-15, 17-9 MAC) in the first round

When: 9 a.m. today

Where: VA Memorial Stadium, Chillicothe

Second round: The Miami-Kent State winner will play the Bowling Green-Central Michigan winner at 4 p.m. Thursday, May 21. The Miami-Kent State loser will play the Bowling Green-Central Michigan loser at 12:30 p.m. Thursday.

Format: Double elimination

More: Lead-off hitter has come into his own. B4

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