OXFORD, Ohio—Home runs by Kate Kobayashi in the first game and Allie Cummins in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader were the difference as the Miami University softball team completed the weekend sweep of Kent State University in the opening weekend of Mid-American Conference play. The RedHawks (10-10; 3-0 MAC) collected a 1-0 win in the first game and 2-0 win in eight innings against the Golden Flashes (6-12; 0-3 MAC).
 
GAME ONE:

• It was a pitchers' duel in the first game with just six combined hits and one run between the two teams.
• Brianna Pratt amassed a career-high 12 strikeouts, while giving up three hits and walking one KSU batter en route to the complete-game win.
• Kobayashi drilled a home run over the right field fence in the first at-bat of the fourth inning to put Miami on the board and to score the lone run of the game.
• Kobayashi was 2-for-3 at the plate with one run and one RBI for the RedHawks.

 
GAME TWO:

• It took extra innings to break a 0-0 stalemate.
• With pinch hitter Shelby Kunkel on second after a double in the bottom of the eighth inning, Cummins stepped to the plate and blasted a two-run, walk-off shot over the centerfield fence to hand the RedHawks the 2-0 win.
• Courtney Vierstra threw 8.0 innings in the complete-game win. She collected 13 strikeouts, while walking none and giving up just two hits.
• The RedHawks had five hits for the game, two coming in the final inning.
• Cummins was 2-for-4 for Miami, with one run and two RBI.

 
UP NEXT:
Miami heads to Ann Arbor, Mich., for a mid-week, non-conference matchup with the Michigan Wolverines on Wednesday, March 23. Game time is scheduled for 4 p.m.