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HAMILTON — Anson Hall said he wasn't serious when he mentioned to his Miami University Hamilton baseball teammates that all he needed in order to hit for the cycle was a home run.

"I was just joking around," said Hall, a right fielder from Shaker Heights. "I was just goofing off. But then I got my pitch."

Hall drilled a two-run homer over the left-field fence in the fifth inning at Foundation Field to complete one of baseball's rarest feats — a homer, triple, double and single in one game — as the Harriers defeated the Miami University Middletown ThunderHawks 18-5 on Thursday, April 17.

"I just saw the ball well," said Hall, who finished 4-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored.

He wasn't alone.

MUH (20-9, 5-0 in the Ohio Regional Campus Conference) peppered the MUM pitching with 18 hits. Corey Murden went 3-for-4 with two RBIs for the Harriers, Damien Hannah was 2-for-4 with two RBIs, Matt Mays went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Jason Gray drove in two runs.

Miami-Hamilton head coach Darrel Grissom said you can chalk it up to warmth and sunshine.

"We went 7-2 when we were in Florida," he pointed out. "I think we were waiting for the weather to warm up here. Once it warmed up, we took off again.

"We've been playing really well the last two to three weeks," he added, "putting a lot of runs on the board, pitching well and playing good defense."

Winning pitcher Hobie Bolton (3-0) turned in 5 1/3 strong innings, allowing only one unearned run.

Miami Middletown (1-18, 0-4 ORCC) got four of its runs in the seventh inning on a grand slam by Tyler Gainey.

Other offensive leaders for the ThunderHawks were Joe Becker, 3-for-4 and Zac Stuck, both 3-for-4 with a double, and Nick Davis, 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

"We hit the ball," MUM coach Ken Pritchard said. "We just played horrible defense."

MUH will play two doubleheaders this weekend, the first at home on Saturday, April 19, against Southern State Community College, and the second on Sunday, April 20, at St. Catherine College, the fourth-ranked team nationally in JUCO Division II. Both doubleheaders start at 1 p.m.

MUM also will play two doubleheaders, Saturday at Cedarville (starting at 1 p.m.) and Sunday at Mount St. Joseph (starting at noon).

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

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