May 6, 2009

Final Stats

AKRON, Ohio - The Miami University softball team opened up play in the Mid-American Conference Tournament with a 2-1 victory over Northern Illinois on Wednesday. It was the first win in the MAC Tournament since the RedHawks won the event in 2005. Miami improves to 29-22 on the year, while the Huskies fall to 18-36.

The RedHawks will face top-seeded Ball State, a 5-0 winner over Bowling Green on Wednesday, on Thursday at 4 p.m. in the next round of the double-elimination tournament.

Miami starter Jessica Simpson struggled early in the first inning. She hit two batters and walked another. A single up the middle by Michelle Williams then gave Northern Illinois the early lead. Simpson would settle down though as she shut the Huskies out the rest of the way, only allowing one more runner to reach third base. She pitched a complete game, giving up one run on four hits while striking out four. Simpson improved her record to 20-11, becoming only the third pitcher in school history to record 20 wins in a season.

The RedHawks scored their runs in the bottom of the second inning. Lauren Odom led off the inning with a single. Two batters later, Kelly Cabana hit an infield single directly back to the pitcher. Alexis Javier then brought both of them home with a double that hit the left center field gap and rolled all the way to the wall.

Javier finished the day 1-for-2 with two RBI and a walk. Miami outhit the Huskies 6-4 during the contest.