DaytonDailyNews.com

OXFORD — The red-hot sluggers of Miami University's baseball team didn't make much of an appearance Saturday, but the RedHawks' pitchers sure did.

Connor Graham, Bobby Oberschlake and Bailey Pratt combined to limit the Ball State Cardinals to one run on six hits in Miami's 2-1 victory at McKie Field.

The win was the eighth in a row for the RedHawks, who are the only team in the Mid-American Conference with a perfect league record at 6-0 (15-9 overall).

Eastern Michigan slipped to 5-1 in the MAC with a loss to Buffalo in the second game of a double-header on Friday, and Northern Illinois and Central Michigan both lost Saturday to fall to 5-1.

Miami had scored at least nine runs in eight of its previous 12 games, but on Saturday the RedHawks didn't cross the plate until the fifth inning and they produced the winning run without benefit of a hit.

"We've got the kind of team where we're going to come through when we need to," Graham said. "We're not going to score 12 runs in every game, and we're not going to give up only one run in every game."

"There are going to be times when you're hitting balls right to people," Miami coach Dan Simonds pointed out, "or when you run into good fielding, or when you face a quality pitcher, like today."

Simonds was referring to former Lebanon High School standout Tyler Pritchard, a junior right-hander. Miami never did figure him out. Pritchard allowed just five hits, no walks and very few hard-hit balls over 7.2 innings.

Two of the hits came in the bottom of the sixth inning. Miami's Evan Armitage singled with one out, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored the game's first run on a single up the middle by Jordan Petraitis.

The Cardinals (11-15 overall, 2-3 MAC) tied the game in the top of the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Matt Gard, but in the bottom of the seventh the RedHawks manufactured a run after Chris Nadeau was hit by a pitch and was balked to second. Eric Darlage put down a perfect sacrifice bunt and Jeff Carroll's fly to center was deep enough to drive in Nadeau.

Miami's pitching took it from there. Graham struck out eight and walked three in 6.2 innings, and Oberschlake (a junior) and Pratt (a senior) teamed for 2.1 innings of scoreless relief.

"I felt pretty good," Graham said. "I'm pitching rather than going out there and just throwing.

"My freshman year, I came in and was throwing for the radar gun," the 6-foot-6 Miami senior right-hander explained. "Now I'm taking a little off my pitches and throwing for more control."

Miami and Ball State will conclude their three-game series today at 1 p.m. at McKie Field.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.