ORLANDO, Fla. – With there being finally some sunny weather down in Florida, the Miami University softball team earned another split on Sunday at the Citrus Classic thanks to some solid pitching performances. After falling to Mississippi State, 3-1, in the morning, the RedHawks came back to defeat Indiana, 3-2 in the afternoon. Miami is now 7-4 on the season.
The afternoon game against the Hoosiers (3-16) began as a pitcher’s duel between Miami senior Remy Edwards and Indiana’s Lora Olson. The game remained scoreless until the top of the third, when the Hoosiers used two hits and two errors to score the game’s first run. With two outs in the inning, junior Amber Logemann came on in relief of Edwards.
Miami solved Olson in the bottom of the fifth, scoring all three of its runs. With one out, junior designated player Tanya Busby singled to third base. A single down the right field line by senior outfielder Tiyona Marshall moved Busby to second. Sophomore second baseman Eryn McCarver followed with a single. The leftfielder mishandled the ball, allowing Busby to score and putting runners on second and third with one out. Junior outfielder Taylor Shuey singled down the left field line, scoring Marshall and McCarver and giving the RedHawks a 3-1 lead.
Meanwhile Logemann was nearly perfect in relief. She retired the first 13 batters she faced in a row, seven of them on strikeouts. With two outs in the top of the seventh, Indiana hit a solo home run to pull within one at 3-2, but Logemann got the next batter to ground out to finish off the victory. She allowed only that one run and one hit in 4.1 innings pitched.
Shuey finished the game 2-for-3 with two RBI. Busby was 1-for-2 with a walk and one run scored.
Getting the start in the opener, Logemann nearly matched Mississippi State (16-3) starter Mackenzie Toller pitch-for-pitch. The high-powered Bulldog offense managed to tag her for two runs in the top of the third and one more run in the fourth. Senior pitcher Megan Mattera came into the game in the top of the sixth and threw two hitless innings of relief.
Toler kept the RedHawks hitless through the first six innings. Senior outfielder Bree Lipscomb put an end to that by leading off the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run over the wall in left center that made it 3-1. That chased Toler and put in Mississippi State ace Alexis Silkwood. Mattera singled to left field, while Edwards drew a walk, but Silkwood was able to get a couple of strikeouts to end the threat and give MSU the win.
Logemann allowed three runs on two hits in five innings pitched for Miami. Lipscomb was 1-for-3 with one RBI and one run scored.
The RedHawks head out to the Pacific Northwest and the home state of senior shortstop Kylie McChesney, as well as freshman catcher Rylee Whispel to participate in the Husky Classic in Seattle next weekend. On Friday, March 6, Miami will take on Ohio State at 3:30 p.m. (EST) and Seattle at 5:45 p.m. (EST). On Saturday, March 7, MU will face Seattle again at 1:15 p.m. (EST) and the host, 18th-ranked Washington at 8 p.m. (EST). The RedHawks complete play on Sunday, March 8 with one more match against Seattle at noon (EDT).
