OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami University softball team (12-7) makes a quick midweek trip to Bloomington, Ind. on Tuesday for a single game at 4 p.m. against Indiana before returning home to host Michigan State this weekend for a three-game series. The Saturday doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. while Sunday's first pitch is scheduled for noon.
Last weekend, the RedHawks went 3-1 during their home opening weekend against Eastern Illinois and Green Bay. Miami won both of its games on Saturday, beating EIU by a 5-1 margin before shutting out Green Bay 3-0. The RedHawks beat Green Bay again on Sunday by a 5-1 margin before falling to Eastern Illinois 5-2 to end the weekend.
Each Miami pitcher earned a win last weekend.
Brianna Pratt pitched the first one-hitter for the RedHawks since April 24, 2015 as she pitched a complete game in the shutout of Green Bay on Saturday.
Courtney Vierstra pitched a complete game in the 5-1 win against Eastern Illinois, giving up no earned runs on two hits and striking out 14 batters.
Taylor Rathe earned the win on Sunday against Green Bay as she gave up just one run in four innings of work. With Vierstra's 28 strikeouts on the weekend, she moved into fourth in program history with 555 career strikeouts. Vierstra ranks sixth in the nation and first in the conference with 129 strikeouts this season and is fourth in strikeouts per seven innings (12.5) in the country.
Haeley Tran and
Morgan Lott led the Miami offense last weekend as they each recorded five hits. Tran was a perfect 3-of-3 from the play in the 5-1 win against Eastern Illinois while Lott recorded three extra-base hits on the weekend. Lott led the RedHawks in runs (3), triples (2), home runs (1), RBI (5), total bases (12) and slugging percentage (.923). Lott moved up to second in program history with her 10
th and 11
th career triples last weekend.
OPPONENT PREVIEW
The Hoosiers hold an even 9-9 record coming into Tuesday's contest. Last weekend, Indiana went 3-2 at the Wildcat Invitational in Tucson, Ariz., beating South Dakota twice and Boise State once but losing to Southern Illinois Edwardsville and No. 4 Arizona. Senior outfielder Gabbi Jenkins leads the Indiana offense in batting average (.411), at-bats (56), runs (10), hits (23), doubles (5) and stolen bases (11). Senior pitcher Emily Goodin leads the pitching staff in ERA (2.11), wins (7), appearances (15), games started (14), complete games (11), shutouts (3), innings pitched (89.2), strikeouts (86) and opponents' batting average (.183).
The Spartans are 6-16 so far this season after going 1-4 at a tournament in Riverside, Calif. last weekend. Michigan State's lone win on the weekend was against Cal State Bakersfield as the Spartans lost to Cal Baptist twice, Cal Riverside once and Southern Utah once. Junior infielder Caitie Ladd leads the Michigan State offense in batting average (.323), slugging percentage (.538), at-bats (65), runs (14), hits (21), doubles (6), home runs (2), walks (13) and on-base percentage (.425 among starters). Freshman pitcher Sarah Ladd leads the pitching staff in appearances (19), games started (12), complete games (5), innings pitched (75.1) and strikeouts (69).
