DaytonDailyNews.com

OXFORD — Miami University baseball coach Dan Simonds was worried by the lightning late Saturday afternoon, and it wasn't just a fear that somebody at McKie Field might get hit.

His starting pitcher, Connor Graham, was running out of time.

Fortunately for the RedHawks the thunderstorm faded away just in time, leaving a bright rainbow, and Graham returned to the mound, threw a total of 108 pitches and helped Miami beat Bowling Green 5-3.

"I was concerned about it," Simonds said of the delay. "It got real close to where I wasn't going to let Connor go back out there. When you get to a delay of 45 minutes or an hour, you're not wanting to bring your pitcher back out."

The game was interrupted in the top of the third inning and the delay lasted 43 minutes. Simonds then gave Graham the green light and he went on to pitch seven strong innings, allowing three runs and striking out seven.

"(Delays) affect pitchers more," said Miami right-fielder Chris Niro, who went 2-for-3 with two doubles. "But Connor did a great job of coming out of it and sticking it to them."

Freshman reliever Reece Asbury picked up where Graham left off, retiring six of the seven batters he faced (with three strikeouts) to record his fourth save.

The victory was the third straight for the RedHawks (22-16, 10-5 in the Mid-American Conference) and kept them in first place in the East Division standings, one game ahead of Kent State.

Bowling Green starter Nick Cantrell did not pitch well after the delay. He retired the first eight RedHawks (including six before the delay), but then he had trouble getting anyone out.

Six of the next eight Miami batters got a hit, including a double by Niro and a two-run single by Dan Leonard, to put the RedHawks on top 4-0, and Cantrell was pulled in the bottom of the fifth following after a single and three straight walks which forced in another run.

The Falcons (17-24, 4-13 MAC) cut into Miami's lead in the top of the sixth on a three-run homer to right by Brian Hangbers, Bowling Green's junior first baseman and a graduate of Edgewood High School. Hangbers also had an eighth-inning triple and finished 3-for-4.

"Connor did a great job, especially after giving up the three-run homer and having the presence of mind not to get rattled," Simonds said.

Graham had help from Niro. Following Hangbers' homer, Andrew Foster swatted a drive to left, but Niro made a clutch diving catch.

"We needed to get the momentum back, and I got a good jump on the ball," Niro said.

Miami sophomore shortstop Jordan Petraitis went 1-for-3 with a fourth-inning infield single to extend his hitting streak to 21 games and Brandon Hillier went 2-for-4 to extend his streak to 11 games.

Game notes

Bowling Green senior outfielder Kurt Wells, who has been named MAC East Division Player of the Week twice this year, was forced out of the game when he injured his left hand while diving into first base on an infield single in the seventh inning ... The RedHawks will try to complete a three-game sweep of the Falcons when the teams play today at McKie Field, starting at 1 p.m.

Bowling Green 000 003 000 — 3 8 0

Miami 001 310 00x — 5 9 0

WP — Connor Graham (4-3); LP — Nick Cantrell (2-7); S — Reece Asbury (4); HR — BG: Brian Hangbers (6)

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