DaytonDailyNews.com

OXFORD — Jordan Petraitis is tough to please, especially when he comes to his own performance on a college baseball diamond.

"I expect I can do more than I'm doing right now," the Miami University sophomore said.

This is from a player who is batting .351, who is riding a 22-game hitting streak, and who is starting at shortstop for the team that ranks 11th in the nation in fielding.

Whether he says so or not, Petraitis is on a roll, and so are the RedHawks, who take a four-game winning streak into this weekend's three-game series at Buffalo.

Miami, which holds a one-game lead in the Mid-American Conference East Division with an 11-5 record (23-16 overall) opens its series with Buffalo (10-28, 8-10 MAC)at 3 p.m. today.

It's not that Petraitis is dissatisfied. He's simply one of those hitters who goes 4-for-5 and wonders what happened the one time he didn't reach base.

"On every out, I feel I've just missed it," he said. "It comes down to never being satisfied."

Miami coach Dan Simonds, on the other hand, is perfectly satisfied with the way Petraitis has switched positions for the second time in two years.

Petraitis came to Oxford as a shortstop and pitcher and was asked to play third base as a freshman. The change didn't affect his bat. He batted .313.

"Last year I was hitting almost as well as I am right now," he said. "I just went through a late slump. I wasn't used to the long college season."

Earlier this season Petraitis was asked to move back to shortstop.

"We knew he was a great athlete," Simonds said. "He takes a lot of pride in his defense. He was one of our better fielders as a freshman, and he has become an anchor for us, and he has turned into a leader. He knows how to play.

"I was at Xavier the year (Miami) signed him," Simonds added. "I recruited him but thank God we didn't get him."

Petraitis' move back to shortstop was a bit awkward for the graduate of Manchester High School in Canal Fulton, Ohio.

"I was a little hesitant," he said. "I'd learned a whole new position and had just settled into third base. My roommate (sophomore Blake Chaffee) was the shortstop at the beginning of the season. I didn't want to cause any friction with him.

"He's been pretty understanding," Petraitis said of Chaffee, who is batting .283 in 23 games and remains a key infielder. "He just wants to play."

Petraitis said he is relieved that the RedHawks seem to have found themselves after having lost 7-of-9 games during a nine-day stretch in April.

"It was just so frustrating, the little valley we went through," he said. "We felt we belonged with the top 25 teams in the nation."

Among Miami's first nine games this year were a pair of three-game series against Top 25 teams — No. 22 Winthrop and No. 13 Texas. Of those six games, all on the road, the RedHawks won three.

"Those first three weekends, to play top 25 teams on the road and win some of those games, that was big," Petraitis said. "Now when we get to a pressure situation late in the season in the MAC Tournament or maybe the NCAA Regionals, we'll feel like we've been there."

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