OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami University softball team (26-14, 11-4 MAC) travels to Athens for three games at Ohio (28-17, 9-6 MAC) this weekend. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 3 p.m. while the doubleheader on Saturday is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.

MIAMI EARNS SECOND MAC SWEEP

The RedHawks earned their second conference sweep of the season this past weekend against Buffalo to stay atop of the MAC standings. Miami shutout the Bulls in the first game of the series by a 4-0 margin before beating them 8-1 to conclude Friday's doubleheader. The RedHawks earned a 3-2 win in thrilling fashion to close the series.

REDHAWKS RISE IN RANKS

Sophomore pitcher Courtney Vierstra and sophomore infielder Ashton Slone both left their names in the record book with strong performances against Buffalo last weekend. Vierstra increased her strikeout total to 188 this season – the eighth-most single-season strikeouts in program history. Slone brought her double total to 14 this season, which is tied for the 10^th-most in a single season in program history.

BIG THREE CONTINUE TO COME UP BIG

Miami's pitching staff – the big three – are at the top of the conference in seven categories this season. The RedHawks pitchers lead in ERA (2.81), strikeouts (311), runs (128), earned runs (111), doubles (32), triples (2) and opponents' batting average (.236). The big three have only stepped it up in April to lead the RedHawks to a 10-2 record. In April, Miami's pitching staff owns a combined ERA of just 1.78, including two shutouts, as the RedHawks have allowed 22 earned runs in 86.2 innings of work. Miami's pitchers are averaging 1.2 strikeouts per inning to 0.9 hits per inning in the month of April.

OPPONENT PREVIEW

The Bobcats are coming off of a bye week, their most recent game being a 3-4 loss last Tuesday at Ohio State. Ohio's last conference series was a sweep at Akron as the Bobcats earned run-rule wins in two of the three games, scoring at least nine runs in all three contests. Against Ohio State, Alex Day earned all three of the Bobcats' RBI with a home run.

Katie Yun and Morgan Geno lead the Ohio offense this season. Yun leads in batting average (.415), at bats (164), runs (43), hits (68), doubles (18) and total bases (125) while Geno has the highest number of home runs (17), RBI (57), slugging percentage (.814), walks (34) and on-base percentage (.509).

Ohio relies most heavily on Madi McCrady in the circle. McCrady leads the pitching staff in wins (18), losses (10), appearances (32), games started (29), complete games (22), shutouts (2), innings pitched (176.2), strikeouts (165) and opponents' batting average (.233).