DaytonDailyNews.com

OXFORD — It's no accident that Miami University's baseball team opens its season with three games in Tempe, Ariz., this weekend against three nationally ranked teams, including the two-time defending national champion.

"We feel the best way to get better is to play the best competition we can," Miami head coach Dan Simonds said.

Miami kicks off its season Friday, Feb. 22, against ninth-ranked Arizona State and then will face No. 7 Oregon State (the 2006 and '07 national champion) on Saturday, Feb. 23, and No. 3 Vanderbilt on Sunday, Feb. 24.

And it doesn't stop when the RedHawks leave Tempe. In their fourth game, they take on No. 19 Louisiana-Lafayette in Lafayette, La., on March 1.

This isn't the first time Miami has taken on a challenging schedule. Last year, Simonds' team won three early games against ranked teams.

"I know our guys like the challenge," said Simonds, who guided Miami last season to a 32-24 record, 16-9 in the Mid-American Conference. "I felt like it was too good of an opportunity to turn down, to go against some of the top-line teams in the country."

The RedHawks will have to go against them without their top-line pitchers from last year, hurlers like John Ely, Connor Graham and Bailey Pratt.

"We don't return a lot of innings on the mound," Simonds acknowledged, "but we've got some guys who've been chomping at the bit to show what they can do. A big part of it is going to be how they step up."

Senior pitcher/outfielder Chris Niro is scheduled to take the hill in the opener against Arizona State. Edgewood High School graduate Chase Stewart, a sophomore who was 2-0 in 11 games in 2007, will go against Oregon State.

Miami lost its two leading hitters from last year, Jeff Carroll and Brandon Hillier, but does welcome back some key position players, such as shortstop Jordan Petraitis (who batted .318 last year) and outfielder Chris Nadeau (.308, a team-high 41 RBIs).

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