May 1, 2010

Final Stats

DEKALB, Ill. - The Miami RedHawks dropped a tough 10-inning decision to Northern Illinois on Saturday, 3-2. Miami falls to 25-21 overall and 10-7 in the Mid-American Conference. The Huskies improve to 21-30 overall and 9-8 in the MAC.

Miami struck first in the top of the third. With one out, Daniela Torres singled to right field. Jordan McElroy followed with a single up the middle to move Torres to second base. Meghan Mawn then scored her on a single to right center.

The RedHawks added another run in the top of the fourth. Briana Burke led off with a walk and was replaced by pinch runner Lindsay Randall. Jenna McGivney moved Randall over to second base on the sacrifice bunt. Taylor Rice moved her over to third with a single to right field, while Kathryn Russette executed a perfect squeeze bunt to bring her home.

Miami starting pitcher Meredith Linch was perfect until the bottom of the fourth inning when she allowed a solo home run to pull Northern Illinois within one at 2-1. It remained that way until the bottom of the seventh when two Husky doubles brought home the tying run and sent the game to extra innings.

Neither team managed a run until the 10th inning. Playing the international tiebreaker rule, each team began the frame with a runner on second base. Miami was unable to bring its runner home in the top of the inning, while two consecutive singles off reliever Jessica Simpson allowed Northern Illinois to score its run in the bottom of the inning and earn the 3-2 win.

Mawn was the RedHawks' leading hitter on Saturday, going 3-for-5 with one RBI. Russette was 1-for-4 with one RBI. Linch finished with 6.1 innings pitched, giving up two earned runs on four hits. She struck out three.

Miami will conclude its weekend series with Northern Illinois on Sunday at 2 p.m. (EDT).