OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami University softball team (13-10) hosts Central Michigan (9-14) to open conference play this weekend. The three-game series starts with a single game on Friday at 3 p.m., followed by a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. Saturday is Youth Day at the Miami Softball Complex.

On Wednesday, the RedHawks shut out Butler by a 4-0 margin at home. Taylor Rathe, Brianna Pratt and Courtney Vierstra all combined for the shutout in the circle. Haeley Tran and Lily Wilmot led the Miami offense with two hits each while Wilmot also scored twice. Wahl, Wilmot, Leckinger and Dotson all had an RBI.

OPPONENT PREVIEW

The Chippewas are 9-14 on the season, most recently playing at the South Florida Tournament from Friday, March 8 through Sunday, March 10. Central Michigan went 2-3 in Clearwater, Fla. that weekend, beating Army and Holy Cross to bookend the weekend's play. CMU lost to Providence, Penn State and Wisconsin, getting shutout twice.

Shannon Stein leads the Chippewas power hitters as half of her hits on the season are extra-base hits. Stein leads CMU in home runs (6), RBI (16), total bases (39), slugging percentage (.591) and is second in doubles (3), on-base percentage (.360) and walks (8). Four pitchers share most of the time in the circle as they have between 25 and 45 innings each. Kaitlyn Bean leads the pitching staff with a 3.89 ERA.